Sheets of Fire
by Lady Frost1
Summary: Originally titled, A love story?. I decided the name didn't really fit. There's a little of everything in here. Blood, death, love, sex, bad jokes which still make me laugh A prelude to Outbreak that turns into a twisted path around all the games.
1. Default Chapter

**WARNING!!!**

**This first chapter is a somewhat graphic rape scene. It's not intended for any purpose but to be brutally truthful and to open the story for what comes naturally after that. If you are easily offended or sensitive to that kind of material I would suggest you not read this chapter.**

**This story is a little what if I decided to write one night. What if the outbreak didn't occur until after Leon Kennedy was in Raccoon? What if he me the woman of his dreams and risked losing her to another man? What if that other man was Kevin Ryman? I get a kick out of love stories between the characters, although admittedly, the girl herself is a made up one. I hope you like it and would appreciate any comments, good or bad, that you have about it.**

**Thanks for giving it a chance.**

**Enjoy.**

**ONE- Too little, too late…**

**She knew the moment she arrived thirty minutes late; she was going to get stuck with garbage duty.**

**This was okay really because it meant she got out of dirty plate detail when the late night crowd started to roll out.**

**She hurried in through the front door, whistling just faintly. She knew the moment Phil saw her. His chubby face went dark red across the cheeks.**

**"Taylor!"**

**She ducked through the door to the kitchen, trying to pretend she hadn't heard him.**

**"Taylor! I see you! You're late AGAIN!"**

**Taylor Bishop tried to hide her smile but Phil had en eagle eye.**

**"Girl! You think I'm gonna fire you, you're wrong. You're on trash duty."**

**As if she hadn't known.**

**She slipped her smock on over her tank top and jeans and slipped out to start her shift.**

**Cindy, one of Taylor's better friends, was smirking at her from her tables across the room. She was a pretty girl with soft blonde hair and delicate doll like features. Taylor had always found her beautiful, almost fragile looking.**

**But she was a hard core bitch and proud of it.**

**Taylor**** took stock of the people around the bar. Most of them were regulars.**

**There were a few college guys drinking, shouting and playing pool at the far corner. It was Christmas break. So she figured they were letting off some steam in the old home town before they had to go back and dig into more boring school work.**

**Taylor**** had opted to fore go college for a while. After high school, she hadn't been in any hurry to jump back on the academic wagon. What had begun as a temporary break had turned into four years of doing nothing but being a waitress and painting.**

**So now she was twenty-two, had no direction, had no ambition and was perfectly content to serve people at J's Bar.**

**Cindy had been working at J's for a few years before Taylor started. **

**She was in her mid-twenties, single, and constantly looking for a good time.**

**She didn't shy away from the fact that she enjoyed sex. In fact, she embraced it. Taylor figured she'd probably already went to bed with half of the men who came into J's on a regular basis.**

**"Hey Taylor! When we gonna get that date?"**

**Taylor**** looked up to see Jim's smiling face. He was mostly harmless, if a little bit of a pain in the ass. Jim Chapman had the problem of thinking he was god's gift to women. Unfortunately, he was mostly just the type of guy who never knew when to shut his mouth.**

**Taylor**** grinned. "Jim you let me know when it's Armageddon outside. Then we'll get that date."**

**Jim snickered. "You never know. Today could be the last day any of us are alive. Why miss out?"**

**Taylor**** rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress a smile.**

**"Hey Chapman, I'm gonna run you in on harassment charges if you don't lay off."**

**Taylor**** glanced over to see Officer Kevin Ryman and Bob the security guard playing darts.**

**At least three nights a week, Officer Ryman came in off his late shift at the precinct and managed to get shit faced before he challenged everyone to darts. Unfortunately, he usually lost which was interesting considering she knew he was one of the best shots she'd ever seen.**

**Taylor**** didn't have to guess if he'd ever slept with Cindy. She knew he had. She'd been staying over at Cindy's the night he'd come over.**

**Both of them had never mentioned it. Although Officer Ryman was a little more uncomfortable around Taylor now and it was kind of sad because she'd sort of fancied herself in love with him for a long time.**

**After he'd slept with Cindy, it had leveled off a little into a crush.**

**He was handsome, well built, and mostly unshaven and always had just a little bit of a wrinkled uniform.**

**It was charming.**

**She brought two beers over on a tray and laid it on the table beside the dart board.**

**"So who's winning?"**

**Bob, old enough to be her grandfather and still plugging along toward retirement, grinned. "Who do ya think?"**

**Taylor**** looked at the scoreboard. Bob was up by twenty six points.**

**Officer Ryman, Kevin, was well on his way to a great buzz but he wasn't there yet. He was losing on purpose. Taylor remembered why she liked him so much.**

**She smiled, softly. "Well Bob, Officer Ryman couldn't hit a bull's eye if it was two feet in front of him."**

**Kevin turned his eyes to her, smiled. "Well…I don't know about that."**

**Jim piped in. "You couldn't even hit the toilet with you piss right now, man."**

**Kevin pointed and his arm was a little unsteady. "Hey! I can still take your ass down!"**

**"Bah! You wish!"**

**Taylor**** grinned and wandered over to take drink orders from the rowdy college boys. **

**One of them whistled as she approached.**

**"Hey sweet thang."**

**Lord save her.**

**She smiled politely. "Hi. Did you guys want something?"**

**"Yeah your phone number."**

**She ignored the one who'd said it. He was bigger, probably 6"4 220, with a face that might have been cute if it wasn't for the horrible buzz cut that made his head look lop sided.**

**One of the other two, a short guy who was sort of just sitting there watching them play pool, said, "A Sam Adams please."**

**She smiled. "Gonna have to card ya."**

**He nodded once. "Sure."**

**The one who'd whistled, a guy about three inches taller then her and built like a wrestler, said, "Come on baby. You don't really think we're minors do ya?"**

**Taylor**** looked at him. His face was young enough that it was hard to judge his age. He might have been sixteen, he might have been thirty. He was blonde and blue eyed and full of himself.**

**She sighed. "I.D.'s please fellas."**

**The nice little guy was the first to hand his over. The other two followed begrudgingly.**

**The big guy said, "Can I get a smile?"**

**Taylor**** sighed and smiled, politely.**

**"Thank you." He handed her the I.D.**

**She checked their ages, saw they were all barely twenty-one, and handed them back.**

**After she managed to get away from them, they spent the better part of the rest of the night making excuses to have her come over. The pool ball was stuck; the cue was too slick, anything to get over by them.**

**Ten minutes to 2 a.m., the end of her shift, they finally left.**

**She was so happy; she considered asking Officer Ryman if he wanted to come home with her.**

**He was so drunk by that point that she figured he'd pretty much be useless. But it could be fun to have him wake up in her bed the next morning going "Oh my god!"**

**Phil was chatting with Cindy when he finally said, "Taylor. Get out of here. Don't forget that trash."**

**Shit. She'd forgotten trash duty.**

**She hung up her smock, set her cap on top of long dark hair, slipped on her coat and started out the back door of the bar, dragging three big trash bags with her.**

**They stank so badly, she wondered if someone had tried to throw away a dead skunk. It didn't seem that unlikely in Raccoon City.**

**She was hoisting the horrible sacks into the big black metal dumpster when she heard the sound of foot steps.**

**Curious, Taylor turned to see who was approaching.**

**For a moment, it didn't register that it was the three men from inside the bar. They were coming down the alley beside the bar toward the back. One of them was stumbling a little, they were all laughing. **

**Shaking her head, Taylor kept lifting the sacks into the dumpster.**

**"Hey!"**

**One of them sounded surprised. "There she is guys!"**

**She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and turned to face them. "Hey guys. Why don't you go walk it off, huh?"**

**The big guy was looking at her. **

**She could just make out something that was dangerously close to a leer on his face. In the moonlight, it was easy to see the flash of white teeth.**

**The exit sign above the door flickered once. **

**Taylor**** glanced at it. It was about a ten second run from the dumpster to the door. She could make it. She just needed to distract them.**

**"Hey there Taylor." This from the blonde guy. **

**The short guy, obviously the drunkest of the three, was leaning against the wall of the building opposite the bar, peeing.**

**Taylor**** said, "Hi. You guys shouldn't be back here. Why don't you go find somewhere warm to sleep for the night?"**

**She looked at the ground where her purse sat. She had mace in there. She just had to get to it.**

**The big guy took a step forward. "You know, you're very pretty Taylor. Sam and I were just talking about that. Weren't we Sam?"**

**The blond guy nodded. "Oh yeah. You see Rog here told me you weren't into blondes though. I told him, I just bet you're wrong."**

**Taylor glanced down the alley, straining to see if anyone was out on the street. The music inside J's was loud and over run with conversation. No one in there would hear her scream.**

**"Listen," she kept her voice calm, "I'm seeing someone right now. Okay? It has nothing to do with anyone of you."**

**"Who?" Rog sounded unconvinced.**

**"He's a cop." Maybe lying would save her ass.**

**"You mean that drunk pig in there?" Sam was laughing. His hair looked silver in the moonlight. "I saw him looking at you like he was gonna eat you up."**

**Rog**** was smirking again. "Pigs don't know what to do with women. And he was so fucking wasted, he probably wouldn't know which hole it goes in anyway."**

**That pretty much confirmed what she'd been afraid of. They were going to try to rape her.**

**Sam took a step forward. "So Taylor…you think you're too good for us huh?"**

**Taylor backed up, just a step. If he came at her, she was going for her purse. She'd never make the door before they grabbed her.**

**"Look," One more try at reasoning, "I just want to be left alone, okay?"**

**Rog**** and Sam looked at each other, grinning like wolves. "Okay, we'll leave you alone."**

**Taylor**** started to bend down, slowly. "Thanks. I'm tired I just want to get home to bed."**

**Rog**** nodded, "Oh absolutely."**

**Her fingers skimmed the handle of her purse, slid around it.**

**And Sam started toward her.**

**She grabbed it, backed up quickly and lifted it like a weapon.**

**"I wouldn't if I was you."**

**She was afraid. It was hard not to be. But she was angry too.**

**Really, really angry.**

**It figured this is how her night was going to go. Just when she was starting to feel good about herself.**

**Sam paused, studied her with his head tilted like a curious dog.**

**"Oh come on baby. We just want to have a good time. No need to get mean."**

**Taylor**** said, "Go get a hooker."**

**Rog**** laughed. "I like my women with some fight in 'em. So much funner to break."**

**Jesus.**

**Taylor**** reached into her purse and Rog and Sam both came for her.**

**It was like a nightmare.**

**She grabbed the mace the moment Rog grabbed her arms.**

**With a low cry, she kicked him hard in the shin. **

**He cried out and shook her, hard. Her teeth clamped on her tongue, drawing blood.**

**She kicked him again and he pushed her away hard enough that she went down on her butt, in old grease. The smell of garbage swelled up around her just covered lightly by the smell of coming snow.**

**Taylor**** scuttled backward on her on her hands and feet until her back bumped the metal dumpster. She pulled the mace free a second before Sam grabbed her.**

**He was laughing.**

**She sprayed him in the eyes and found gratification in his loud howl.**

**He stumbled back and Rog was there. She kicked out and he grabbed her foot, twisting it painfully.**

**Taylor**** screamed, recoiling. She dug through her purse with one hand, searching for her keys.**

**Sam was yelling, "Bitch got me right in the eyes! Fuck!"**

**Rog**** yelled, "Shut up and get her damn purse!"**

**Sam stumbled, rubbing at his bleary eyes. When he was close enough, Taylor pulled her keys free and drove one into his hand as he reached for her purse.**

**He cried out and back handed her. **

**It stung. Stars exploded inside her head. She was desperately afraid she was going to pass out.**

**Rog**** pulled on her foot until she smacked her head against the dumpster and then fell onto her back on the pavement. She could smell old liquor, the stink of rotten food.**

**She was screaming, one high pitched wail after another.**

**Rog**** yelled, "Sam shut her up!"**

**Sam grabbed her hat and pulled it off so he could get a hand into her hair. He yanked fiercely and Taylor threw her arms up, trying to hit him.**

**The pain in her ankle was excruciating.**

**He grabbed her arms, pulled them over her head and sat down on them. She was afraid he was going to break them. Before she could do more then scream again, he'd stuffed her hat into her mouth.**

**Sam pushed it far enough back that Taylor was afraid she was going to vomit. She gagged once at the cloying cloth and then struggled to breathe through her nose.**

**The little guy against the wall was passed out, snoring. He was going to be no help.**

**Taylor kicked with her good leg, hitting Rog twice in the chest. He jerked on her foot again and Taylor felt the bone scream, any harder and he'd break it.**

**He jerked at her coat and buttons exploded off of it, pinging loudly against the metal of the dumpster. **

**His face was ecstatic, dewy with sweat. Taylor's mind was trying to shut down, shut off and block it all out.**

**She fought twice as hard, jerking her body up and down like a landed fish.**

**Sam spread her coat open, baring her tank top clad chest to the cold air. She whimpered, screaming inside her head.**

**It sounded like little more then a muffled breath.**

**Rog**** was between her legs now and she kicked uselessly. He'd spread them so wide she was afraid her hips would break.**

**She was going to die. She was going to die.**

**Tears streamed from her eyes as the fear finally swallowed the rage. She was just terrified now.**

**Faintly, she heard the rip of denim, felt the cold air on her panties as he yanked down her jeans, effectively imprisoning her legs at the ankles.**

**His hands were cold, horrible on her legs. He and Sam were talking, laughing but Taylor's mind was recoiling on itself. **

**She felt the numbness seeping through her and hated it. She didn't want to be numb. She wanted to fight!**

**She was screaming against the cloying hat. "Please no! Please no!"**

**There was the sound of her panties being torn away. Hands were pushing down her tank top, pushing into her bra.**

**Taylor**** was still jerking, still screaming. **

**Rog**** rose above her, bared at the waist. Taylor started sobbing. **

**He laughed, cupped one of her breasts in his hand. "What's that baby? Not feeling so high and mighty now huh?"**

**Taylor was shaking her head, over and over, her eyes were wide enough that they hurt.**

**Sam squeezed her other breast, hard and rubbed his crotch against her head. It didn't take her long to realize he was naked from the waist down as well.**

**Taylor**** felt the vomit building. She was going to choke to death on her own puke.**

**Sam was crawling off her arms, seizing her wrists as he climbed on her torso, straddling her.**

**She closed her eyes, unwilling to look at his ugly manhood. Unwilling to look at either of them.**

**She turned her head away and Sam hit her again, hard enough that she felt her cheek explode with pain and then the warm seep of blood.**

**He yanked the hat out of her mouth and pulled her jacket up so it held her arms prisoner, just like her jeans. She flailed uselessly, trapped by Sam's weight by her own clothing.**

**She screamed, "HELP ME! Please somebody help me!"**

**Sam hit her again and her face smacked into the concrete. Blood spilled into one eye, turning her vision red.**

**He grabbed her chin and said, "Open up, you cunt."**

**She spit at him and clamped her mouth shut, hard. Sam squeezed at the place where her teeth met, forcing her lips to pucker open. She kept her teeth clamped together.**

**She'd rather die.**

**Rog**** said, "I'll get her to open up."**

**Pain exploded through her body as he rammed himself into her. She was dry, she was scared and she was a virgin. Something tore inside her.**

**Taylor**** opened her mouth and screamed, loud and high.**

**Sam laughed and grabbed her jaw a second before he thrust himself toward her.**

**He hit the back of her throat, hard and Taylor gagged. She was going to vomit.**

**She started choking and Sam pulled out, yelling.**

**"Oh shit!"**

**Rog**** pulled himself free. "What?"**

**"The bitch is going to puke!"**

**Taylor rolled onto her side, vomiting all over the dirty pavement. **

**Sam shrieked and jumped off her.**

**"Sam!"**

**"What man?! She just started choking!"**

**"Grab her would you? I wasn't finished!"**

**"Man she's throwing up. That's fucking sick."**

**"Grab her and shut up!"**

**Sam reached out to grab her. **

**Taylor**** thought she was going to die but she pulled in everything she had inside of her and kicked out.**

**Rog**** squealed as her feet smashed into his face, hard. **

**Sam grabbed her hair and she screamed, "I'll fucking bite it off! You stupid bastard! I'll fucking bite it off!"**

**She could smell her own fear, her own vomit. Her stomach roiled.**

**Rog**** was standing over her now. "I'm gonna kill you bitch."**

**"You're gonna get on the fucking ground and put your hands behind your head. Or I'm gonna blow your nuts out your fucking back."**

**Rog**** froze, Sam froze. **

**Taylor**** started screaming. "Oh please help me!" She couldn't see whose voice had just spoken but hope rushed through her so hard and fast, she rolled to her side and vomited again.**

**It splattered all over Sam's hands.**

**He wailed. "Fuck!"**

**"I said get on the ground! Now!"**

**Rog**** turned. "Who the fuck are you? This ain't your party, bro. Go on home."**

**"R.P.D. Mother Fucker. And I just made it my party."**

**Taylor**** was panting, hard. R.P.D. Kevin?**

**Sam said, "Oh shit! Listen we were just…playing right? We weren't hurting her or nothing."**

**"Did I ask you to talk? Get on the damn ground and shut up."**

**Rog**** started to reach for Taylor and she screamed.**

**The loud boom of gun had them all freezing. **

**Rog**** stared at the hole in the metal dumpster just beside his head. Taylor saw the moment he'd realized he was no longer in control.**

**He tried to fix his pants and the cop said, "Leave 'em, you stupid shit. Let everybody see what a fucking disgrace you are. Put your face on the ground. Now."**

**No not Kevin. Though he sounded a bit like him.**

**She tried to place the voice and couldn't.**

**She said, softly, "There's another cop inside the bar. Officer Ryman."**

**Her hero replied, "Good." He grabbed the radio attached to the shoulder of his uniform, "All units respond. This is  unit 32. 261 in progess. Request immediate assistance. Behind J's bar."**

**There was static and then a voice said, "10-2 unit 32. Four available units in the area."**

**The back door to the bar opened and light spilled out, Taylor made out Kevin's face. **

**The moment he saw her, he looked horrified.**

**The other cop was cuffing Rog. He said, "Get this one."**

**Kevin rushed forward and cuffed Sam. Sam was screaming, "We didn't do nothing. She's lying. She's lying."**

**Taylor**** hadn't moved. She was still lying on the ground.**

**The other cop touched her, gently. **

**She twitched as he lifted her and slid something around her shoulders. It was a jacket.**

**"Are you alright?"**

**Taylor**** looked into his face. He was handsome, young. **

**His eyes were very blue.**

**She started sobbing.**

**He gathered her close, holding her. **

**She could hear the sirens of approaching cop cars. **

**Kevin was reading the two men their rights. **

**Against the wall, the other man started to stir. "Mom?"**

**Taylor**** wrapped her arms around the nice cop, sobbing. He picked her up, holding her against his chest like a child.**

**"It's okay. It's alright."**

**His voice was nice, soothing. She curled her arm around his neck, sobbing.**

**The back door to the bar slammed open again. **

**She heard Cindy's voice, "Oh my god! Taylor!"**

**Foot steps coming down the stairs. "Leon what happened to her?"**

**The nice cop said quietly, "She was assaulted."**

**"Oh my god!" Cindy looked at her torn clothing. "Oh my god! Taylor!"**

**She turned her eyes to the two men. One of them was sobbing, babbling. Cindy started screaming, "You fucking bastards! You stupid bastards!"**

**Kevin took her arm. "Cindy, that's enough."**

**The nice cop walked to the steps leading up to the bar and sat down, sitting Taylor sideways in his lap. **

**She looked down at her legs, bare and cold. Her panties were torn on one side. She whimpered and reached down to try to pull up her pants.**

**The nice cop said, quietly, while Cindy screamed in the back ground and people started to come out of the bar, "Do you want me to help you?"**

**Taylor**** nodded and shifted so he could reach under her and pullup her pants. The button was missing, the zipper ruined but she felt a little better with the cloth on her body again.**

**Her hands shook so badly that the nice cop helped her pull her ruined jacket off her arms and blocked her from everyone while she fixed her bra and slid her arms into his jacket, pulling it closed over her chest.**

**She said, softly, "Thank you."**

**The nice cop knelt in front of her, looked into her face. There was rage on his face and sadness. **

**Taylor**** was afraid she was going to cry again.**

**"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."**

**His hair was just a little red, his eyes even bluer in the light from the open doorway. He was sorry he'd saved her.**

**It was too much.**

**Taylor scooted forward and put her arms around his neck, clinging.**

**The nice cop accepted her hug easily, wrapping his arms around her back and holding her. **

**"Don't you fucking say anything! You stupid cunt!"**

**Rog**** was yelling, loudly.**

**Cindy started raging at him. **

**He gained his feet and threw the bulk of his body against Kevin, knocking the smaller man backward. Kevin hit the dumpster hard and Rog charged, throwing Cindy sideways when she got in his way. **

**Cindy went to her knees, still screaming.**

**Taylor**** opened her mouth to scream as the big man charged right for her.**

**The nice cop stood easily and turned. **

**When the big man came up on him, he foot swept him. Rog went down with a snarl, crashing into the pavement.**

**The nice cop followed him down, clamping a hand on his throat and pulling his gun. He pressed it into the big man's forehead.**

**"That was your only warning. Try something like that again and I'll kill you."**

**Kevin came over, rubbing his chest. "Kennedy, sorry. He just-"**

**"Don't sweat it. He's just a prick with a stupidity complex. No big deal."**

**Cops were coming down the alley way.**

**Cindy limped over and reached for Taylor. "Honey…"**

**Taylor**** whimpered and shied away. She didn't want to be touched. Not by Cindy.**

**When the nice cop turned back to face her, Taylor stood and ran to him.**

**She saw the surprise on his face before she threw herself against him, holding on.**

**She was babbling, "Thank you thank you thank you."**

**She started sobbing.**

**Cindy looked at Kevin. They shared a moment of shame. They'd been right inside. **

**Sam was crying. Rog was screaming.**

**The other man was stumbling around, confused.**

**At the entrance to the alley, people started to gather.**


	2. TWO

**TWO-Serve and Protect**

**Putting the two men behind bars wasn't nearly enough.**

**Leon S. Kennedy was usually a man who believed in the system, in the justice of the sword. But staring at the faces of the two bastards that had ruined an innocent girl, he wondered if he should have shot first without a warning.**

**The girl in question, Taylor Bishop, was being lead into an exam room at the hospital to be checked over.**

**He and Kevin Ryman stood in the hallway together, waiting.**

**Ryman was a good man. A little loose around the bottle but a good man. He'd gone out for the S.T.A.R.S. twice and failed twice. He was a good cop, had great instincts, but didn't have the patience to be a S.T.A.R.S. member.**

**After Leon's transfer to the R.P.D., he'd thought about going out for the S.T.A.R.S. But he was a better street cop then he'd ever been a soldier. **

**He'd done two years in the military after high school. That had been enough.**

**Leon Kennedy wasn't a detective. He was a cop, plain and simple. It was all he ever wanted to be.**

**Kevin said, quietly, "I should have fucking been there."**

**Leon**** looked at him. "Are you psychic?"**

**Kevin was shaking his head. "I saw those three guys leering at her. In the bar. When they left, I just thought they were stupid drunk frat boys."**

**Leon**** looked at his reflection in the glass before him. R.P.D. was emblazoned across his chest. To serve and protect. No one had protected Taylor Bishop.**

**Kevin was speaking softly, to Leon, to himself. "Who am I kidding? I was four fucking sheets to the wind. Jesus."**

**Leon**** didn't know what to say to that because it was true. He understood a cops need to wind down, blow it all off. But Ryman was drunk any time he wasn't working. That was never a good thing.**

**A nurse came out dressed in peach scrubs. She looked between the two cops standing there and saw more similarities then was normal.**

**They were about the same height, built along the same lines although Leon leaned a little heavier into muscle; their faces were both strong through the jaw and handsome. One was dark eyed, one blue eyed but both had something in those eyes that was the same. Some level of tragedy, of sorrow that made them equals.**

**Kevin was rumpled, Leon pristine but both looked and smelled like cop and the nurse, usually stony eyed, had to appreciate them.**

**She said, "Officer Kennedy?"**

**Leon**** stepped forward.**

**"She's asking for you."**

**Leon**** nodded and walked with her toward the room.**

**Kevin watched them go and there was real sorrow on his face. Leon hoped it didn't drive him right back to the bottle.**

**When the nurse stopped at the door, Leon looked down into her face.**

**"She's…in a bad way. There was tearing of the labia and the hymen."**

**The nurse looked at him, seeing if he understood. He did. Taylor Bishop had been a virgin.**

**"She has a mild concussion and a fractured cheek bone. She needed three stitches in her forehead and two in her cheek."**

**She must have seen something on his face because she touched his arm, gently.**

**"She's much better then she would have been, Officer. If you hadn't come along when you did."**

**Leon**** nodded, tried to find comfort in that and found it harder then it should have been.**

**She opened the door and they stepped inside.**

**She was sitting on an exam table, in a green gown, with her hair, soft and dark, falling around her shoulders and down her back. It looked silky, soft, and tangled which made Leon even angrier.**

**Under the bruises on her face, Leon realized she was quite beautiful. She had an exotic look to her, slightly tilted eyes which were dark as night, skin a creamy shade of white, lips that bowed just a little at the corners…at least when they weren't split and swollen.**

**Leon stepped into the room and she turned her head, looked at him, and there were tears in her big eyes.**

**She started to climb down and he shook his head, walked over to her.**

**"How are you doing?"**

**She lifted her arms, wrapped them around his neck and pressed into him.**

**"I'm alive because of you. I will never forget that. I'm alive because of you."**

**He waited a beat and then hugged her back because it was in his nature, because maybe he needed it almost as much as her.**

**He heard himself say, "I should have been faster." And was surprised that he'd voiced his inner most fear.**

**Taylor**** leaned back and took his face in her hands. "You are amazing. I don't know how you found me. I don't know what brought you back into that alley. But you saved my life. You saved me."**

**Leon**** met her eyes saw the earnest light there and couldn't bring himself to say what he was really thinking. That he was supposed to protect and he'd been too late to save her.**

**"Mrs. Kennedy is a lucky woman."**

**He smiled, "She will be…someday when I meet her."**

**Taylor**** laughed and it was nervous but it was something.**

**Leon**** said, "You don't want to hear this but when you're ready, I need to take a statement."**

**Taylor ran her hands over his face, his arms. "I'm sorry. I know I keep touching you. It's just-"**

**"No it's okay. Don't worry about it." He squatted down in front of her. "Ms. Bishop-"**

**"Taylor."**

**"Taylor." Leon smiled. "I need to tell you. They're going to ask you for details. Things that you won't want to talk about."**

**She took his hand, gripped it. "Will you stay with me? Officer Kennedy?"**

**He smiled again. "It's Leon. And of course I will."**

**She took his face again.**

**He realized she just needed the contact.**

**For a lot for rape victims, there was a period of withdrawal. They often pulled into themselves and refused contact from any person of the opposite sex. For Taylor Bishop, she needed the reassurance from a man who wouldn't hurt her.**

**He covered her hand with his and let her hold his face. He could almost feel her drawing strength from him.**

**He hoped he had enough to give.**

**She leaned down slowly and pressed her mouth to his, softly. He had a moment to remember she was a victim and she pressed her forehead to his, breathing deeply.**

**"Leon…"**

**Her eyes were closed, his wide open. He was watching her get it all together and realized that he'd never seen such inner strength before. **

**She put her fingers in his hair, squeezed once, gently and took a deep breath before she pulled back.**

**"Thank you." She kissed him again, softly.**

**Leon**** smiled, though it was weak. No one should have to live through something like this. It was wrong. **

**But he was the law and it was in his hands now.**

****

**           &&&&&&**

**Kevin Ryman wasn't a man given to guilt.**

**He did the job, he didn't take it home with him. He took it to J's Bar and left it there.**

**He knew why he went there. So he could watch Taylor and imagine what life would be like if he hadn't something clean in it, something pure.**

**He'd let the bottle ruin that.**

**Kevin knew he was a border line alcoholic. Like his father before him, like his grandfather before his father.**

**He never touched it while he was working. Never even went near it. He could separate himself that much.**

**But the moment he was free and he went home to nothing and no one, he always found a way to drown himself in cheap scotch, in cheap beer.**

**He wasn't the type of man to make excuses for himself. He drank because it blanketed everything, made the world a little less horrible. Everything he was, he'd made of himself.**

**He inhaled deeply on the cigarette dangling from his lips.**

**He'd seen a lot of shit on the job. Women drowning their own children, men who beat their wives to death and the women who stayed with them, gang fights, back street abortions, under age prostitution. Raccoon City wasn't exactly a haven of happiness and hope. As a beat cop, you saw it all.**

**He'd dealt with rape before. Hell, he'd grown up around it. He'd lived in the dirtiest, seediest part of the city where people traded sex for drugs, drugs for guns, guns for money. **

**His mother had been a junkie, a whore. When he'd turned eight, she started telling him it was time to pull his own weight.**

**So the old man had taught him how to go on the grift, how to lie and cheat and steal, how to sucker the more fortunate out of money. **

**And when that hadn't paid for the smack, for the coke well then she'd started pimping him out.**

**She had connections, she knew men that would pay and pay well for some young, sweet ass.**

**He'd spent the better part of his life trying to forget about rough hands, breath that stunk of cheap liquor, dark rooms with dirty floors and bugs that liked to play in the salt of your tears.**

**He'd fought, hell, he'd always fought. The first time, the man had offered him candy. Kevin had though he was a nice man, if a little weird.**

**He hadn't expected the blow when it'd come or the filthy names the man had called him. The smell of breath mints over boos on his face. **

**The man was bigger and stronger but when Kevin had finally known what he was going to do, he'd fought like only a cornered animal can.**

**He hadn't gotten away but the man had left with a broken nose and three missing teeth.**

**Kevin had bled for a week. His mother had given him a roll of toilet paper and told him to shut his mouth. **

**How he'd hated her after that. He'd imagined killing her so many different times. Sometimes, at night, when the men would leave and he would lie on the floor broken and alone, the thought of choking her until he watched the light leave her eyes was the only thing that kept him going.**

**Whenever he could, he would train himself. He'd pick on the bigger, stronger kids in the neighborhood, goad them into fighting. He got his ass kicked plenty but he learned and he'd always been a fast learner.**

**He was fourteen the first time he'd had the strength to get away.**

**The man was three times his size but gone to fat.**

**Kevin had kicked him so many times his face looked like a pile of rotted hamburger.**

**After that he'd never looked back.**

**He lived off the street, eating out of trash cans, stealing like his father had taught him. When he'd turned sixteen, he'd gone back. To kill his mother.**

**But she and the old man had picked up stakes and moved on. **

**He'd knocked on the door of their old apartment and come face to face with the woman who was his real mother.**

**Delia Ryman and her husband, Al, had taken one look at him and invited him into their homes, their hearts.**

**He'd become a cop for them, for himself. **

**And tonight, he'd failed.**

**He'd gone to J's Bar to get up the nerve to finally ask Taylor out. It had been rough between them lately.**

**He liked to think they'd almost been friends.**

**But he'd gone and done something only a man could do.**

**In one of his lonelier moments, he'd decided to drop in on Cindy maybe grab some human contact.**

**He hadn't expected her to be there.**

**Kevin knew he should have just turned around and left. **

**But he'd been half drunk and horny. So he'd fucked Cindy and kicked himself every night since.**

**Taylor**** didn't look at him quite the same way anymore and that hurt something inside of him.**

**He'd let those bastards rape her.**

**He'd watched her leave the bar, contemplated going after to her, finally getting up the courage to say everything. But he'd been shit faced and didn't want to screw it up. So he'd let her go out alone and gone on drinking, joking with Jim, with Bob and Mark while she'd been fighting for her life in that filthy alley.**

**Kevin unclenched his fists and stared at the bloody half moons in his skin from his fingernails.**

**He owed Kennedy a cup of that expensive Java he was always drinking.**

**The man was the straightest cop Kevin had ever met. Hell, he was like super cop. He aced all his reviews, could shoot a hole in eagle eye of a quarter for fifty yards, and had graduated in the top five out of the Academy.**

**They'd never been friends. They had nothing in common. **

**Kennedy came from good, clean stock. Two loving parents, a Harvard bound sister, a nice upscale home in Boston somewhere. He was the golden boy of the R.P.D. **

**Kevin was the cop that was always walking the line between great police work and suspension. He'd dated a girl once right after Kennedy had. It was like living in the shadow of saint. The girl had been so gone over the red haired cop that Kevin had been lucky to escape with his ears in tact.**

**It was pathetic.**

**Even worse was Kennedy represented everything Kevin wanted to be and didn't have balls to go for. That was lowering to admit but it was the truth.**

**He'd been there for Taylor. Kevin had been with the bottle.**

**He watched the pristine black and white pull into the parking lot and didn't even have to see the driver to know it was Kennedy.**

**Kevin wanted to hate him and couldn't. He had saved her. He'd be silently indebted to the man for the rest of his life.**

**To serve and protect. He wondered when that had stopped meaning something to him. Because it meant something now.**

**He walked down the concrete steps to wait.**

**                   &&&&&**

**Taylor**** spoke quietly, her eyes in her lap.**

**"And then I started gagging and…Sam rolled off of me…" She faltered, took a deep breath.**

**Kevin stood against the far wall, watching her. Each word she spoke had the rage building inside of him. They hadn't just raped her, they'd humiliated her, they'd taken more then her virginity.**

**The woman taking her statement was Detective Shea, she was gentle and kind, and the best at what she did. She waited patiently and asked questions slowly.**

**She'd dealt with rape victims before.**

**"…and I kicked him in the chest."**

**"Good for you." Detective Shea smiled, squeezed Taylor's hand gently. "Do you want to take a break for a minute? Maybe have some coffee?"**

**Taylor**** shook her head. "No thank you. I just want to…finish."**

**"Alright. What happened next?"**

**She lifted her eyes and looked to where Leon was standing, a few feet from Kevin.**

**He came forward, knelt beside her chair and took her hand. **

**It seemed to bolster her.**

**"Officer Kennedy told them to get on the ground."**

**Shea**** looked at Leon.**

**"Leon?"**

**He nodded. "I was on my way to J's after my shift. I was standing outside having a cigarette when I heard shouting, laughing." Leon closed his eyes for a moment, "At first I didn't think anything of it. Then I heard someone say Open up, you cunt." He was absently rubbing circles on Taylor's hand with his thumb, "That's when I start running."**

**Shea**** nodded. "Go on."**

**Kevin thought this sounded a bit like an I.A.B. interrogation but he knew the drill. You had to get the story while it was fresh in the victim's mind and in the mind of the first officer on scene.**

**"They had Ms. Bishop on the ground. They were yelling, she was vomiting onto the pavement. Her clothes were in disarray and I could see that she was crying." Shea didn't miss the flash of rage that slid over Leon's features. "So I drew my side arm and told them to get on the ground and put their hands behind their heads."**

**"We're they cooperative?"**

**"Not at first. They didn't believe me when I identified myself as R.P.D. One of them made a grab for Ms. Bishop and I fired a warning shot into the dumpster behind his head."**

**Shea**** was nodding thoughtfully, writing something in a notebook. **

**Leon**** continued. "I then radioed for back up and Officer Ryman was the first to arrive on the scene."**

**She turned to Kevin, looked at him. "Anything to add, Officer Ryman?"**

**There was no first name basis between them. But it didn't matter; Kevin wasn't out to make friends with the dics around the station.**

**"I entered the scene from the back door of the bar where I was enjoying my night off. I'd left my police radio on out of habit. When I arrived on scene, I found Officer Kennedy had already cuffed one on of the assailants and I proceeded to cuff the other."**

**Shea**** nodded, still writing. "Alright. Ms. Bishop, I'm going to ask you now if you want to press charges."**

**Leon**** was still holding her hand. She looked at his face, looked back to Shea and said, "If I don't press charges, will they come after me again?"**

**Shea**** was looking at her closely. "It's possible. It's also possible that they will try to come after you again if you do press charges. But if you press charges, they will be jailed until a hearing is set to determine if they should be released on bond until the court date. During that time we can offer you police protection."**

**Taylor**** nodded, looked to Leon. "What should I do?"**

**He met her eyes, steadily. "Press charges."**

**Taylor**** nodded. "Okay. I want them as far away from me for as long as possible."**

**Leon**** stood and looked at her. "I'm gonna go work out a detail to run sweeps by your house. You'll be okay here with Detective Shea for a minute?"**

**Taylor**** nodded and smiled, just a little.**

**Leon**** walked toward Kevin and stopped next to him. "I don't need to ask if you want in on the detail."**

**Kevin continued to look at Taylor. "No you don't."**

**"I didn't think so."**

**&&&&&**

**Phil tried to tell her it was his fault and she wouldn't let him. It could have happened to anyone. If Cindy had taken out the trash or another girl had been working that night. **

**It was no ones fault the men that had done it to her.**

**At the hospital, they'd taken a rape kit. It had come back with positive traces of semen and obvious signs of abuse. A nurse had swabbed the inside of her mouth and found samples of skin from the man who had abused her there.**

**They had a DNA match for the two men; they had an eye witness from the ranking Officer on site. Leon told her it was going to be open and shut. The D.A. wouldn't turn down a rape case that was so solid. If she was strong enough to endure, it would go to court and the men would pay for what they'd done.**

**Taylor**** sat on the sofa in her tiny living room. Cindy was staying the night with her; she was in the kitchen making coffee.**

**She was strong enough to see them pay. She had to be.**

**Leon**** knelt in front of her. "You're going to be telling and retelling that story. I want you to know that right off. To a lawyer, a judge, a jury."**

**Taylor**** nodded. "Can they plea bargain them down to a lesser charge?"**

**Leon**** sighed. "I doubt it. The evidence is too great. I don't think there's a lawyer out there that could weasel out an aggravated assault with DNA and half a dozen eye witnesses."**

**Taylor**** nodded again and looked at his face. He was so handsome, so good. He was her hero.**

**She took his hands. "You've been wonderful. I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you."**

**He was already shaking his head. "I don't want you to worry about it anymore, okay? I'm gonna make sure you're taken care of. We'll have a black and white cruise down your street once every hour after they're out on bail. And…" He took out a notebook and a pen, wrote something on it and gave it to her. "That's my cell and my home number. If you need anything, to talk, to cry. You call me. Okay?"**

**She smiled, just a little. "Above and beyond the call of duty, Officer Kennedy."**

**He rubbed her hands in his, smiling. "It's Leon."**

**"Leon."**

**Cindy came into the living room, smiling. "Leon, you're my hero."**

**He stood, still smiling. "You take care of her for me, Cindy, okay?"**

**"You got it."**

**He looked at Taylor for just a minute longer. "Anytime. Call."**

**"I will."**


	3. Three: The Triangle

**A little not so far to my reviewers.**** I know the theme changes up a lot on this story. It's at once comedic and depressing and horrible to read. Which is exactly what I was going for.  I was trying to make it a little bit like life where nothing is ever the way you expect it to be. **

**If you'll notice I'm big into character history. I like to know where they came from and what they're heading into. I hope you enjoy that as well, seeing where they characters came from and what brought them to Raccoon City.**

**Thank you. I hope you keep reading.**

**Cannibal Jello, my first reviewer.**** There's a suggestion of some future slash in this chapter for you. ****J******

**THREE-The Triangle**

**Had it been a year now? Three-hundred and sixty five days since someone had stolen her life from her? **

**It didn't seem possible.**

**She'd dealt with reporters and lawyers and rape activists who had called her and showed up at her with questions, with promises and accusations. **

**She'd dealt with all of it and done her best to put it behind her.**

**Roger Carter and Sam Winston were serving a minimum of twenty five years behind bars. For rape, assault and attempted murder.**

**Twenty-five years of their lives gone. It wasn't enough.**

**She'd cried for weeks afterward. She'd gone through a period where she couldn't get out of bed. The nightmares had plagued her any time she'd closed her eyes.**

**She'd screamed and cried and raged and healed.**

**Leon**** had been there, every step of the way. He'd been a rock, a shoulder, a friend. Of all the things that had come into her life because of what had happened, he'd been the only one that mattered.**

**Taylor**** touched the ends of her hair. She'd woken up this morning and wanted a change, needed one.**

**She'd had it highlighted with red streaks, gotten it shaped, layered. She'd cleaned out her closet and bought a whole new wardrobe.**

**She was different now, changed forever. It was time to let go.**

**She could hear children outside the window, playing in the snow. **

**Would she ever forget the smell of snow over trash? Would she ever forget the cold on her skin? The fear on her tongue?**

**She was going to do her best to try.**

**She slipped her arms into the black leather jacket she'd bought herself. It was plush, buttery and wonderful.**

**She was going to head down to the R.P.D. and try to catch Leon at work. **

**The drive to the station gave her a moment to watch the life going on around her. No one had stopped living except for her. Children still played and waited for Santa. Wives and husbands quarreled, people were happy.**

**She had to find a way back there.**

**Taylor**** swung into a spot just between a black Jeep and a police cruiser. She knew the Jeep; she'd ridden in it too many times to count.**

**The desk sergeant on duty was named Grimes. He was a nice old guy who always had a smile for her.**

**"Hey Taylor."******

**"Hey Grimes. Is he here?"**

**"Yep just getting off the day actually I think. Doing some last minute paper work. You wanna come back and wait?"**

**"Nah, I think I'll just wait outside, get some air. You'll tell him I'm here?"**

**"Sure."**

**"Thanks." She smiled and walked back outside. **

**The courtyard looked beautiful under a blanket of fresh white. **

**Snow had the ability to crystallize the world, to give it just a little edge of unreality.**

**She was smoking when a voice said, "Wondered if you'd be here today."**

**Taylor**** looked behind her.**

**Kevin was coming across the courtyard toward her. **

**She'd gone back to work at J's about six months before, she'd needed to outlet. He never came in as much as he used to. **

**In fact, when he did come in, he had a single beer and stayed long enough to chat with Bob and Jim and Cindy and then he'd breeze back out again.**

**She wasn't sure what had driven a wedge between them but it was there none the less.**

**He paused beside her and she wasn't immune to the fact that he'd changed.**

**He was clean shaven, his uniform perfectly groomed. He reminded her of Leon in a way. Always on time, always willing to stay a little later then necessary.**

**She wasn't made out of steel. He still touched her in some part of what she'd been, in some part that was purely female.**

**"You look great."**

**Taylor**** smiled. "I was about to say the same about you."**

**And there was that smile. It was charming and just a little crooked.**

**"You just comin on?"**

**He nodded. "Yeah the late shift."**

**"That sucks."**

**"That's what I was thinking." He turned toward her, smiling. "You waitin on Kennedy?"**

**"Yep."******

**"I figured as much." And Taylor thought it was the first time she'd ever seen him look a little nervous. "Listen Taylor, I thought maybe if you weren't busy sometime…"**

**That's when she realized that he was trying to ask her out. Nothing could have surprised her more.**

**She looked at his face with her eyebrows raised. It was surprising and…she was tempted, big time.**

**She said, "I'd love to." Before he ever finished his sentence.**

**He smiled and it was charming.**

**He said, "Great…that's great."**

**Taylor**** was still smiling at him when Leon wandered over. He was dressed casually in brown leather jacket and faded jeans.**

**For a moment Kevin and Leon looked at each other before they shook hands.**

**"Ryman."******

**"Kennedy."**

**Taylor**** had one of those moments when a woman finally takes notice of something.**

**Both of them were startlingly handsome, amazingly charismatic. If Kevin was a little taller and Leon a little stronger through the shoulders well that was all really secondary.**

**Leon****'s face was closer to being perfect with strong cheekbones and full lips. Kevin's were more rugged a slightly crooked nose the suggestion of a cleft in the chin.**

**Never in her life had she thought to be standing between two utterly divine men.**

**Two men…**

**She closed her eyes, blocked the image and said, "Well…call me later ok?"**

**Kevin smiled. "Absolutely."**

**Taylor**** took Leon's arm and they walked toward his Jeep.**

**He was surprisingly quiet for the first ten minutes of their drive. **

**They were going North for the weekend to visit her parents. They were just outside of Gettysburg which made it about a four hour drive from Raccoon City.**

**It was going to be one long drive in silence.**

**Finally, she said, "So, my mother hasn't stopped asking when I'm bring you back up there."**

**Leon**** nodded. In the bright afternoon light, his face was set. She wanted to say angry but it wasn't exactly that.**

**It was more of something she wanted to call, discomfort. **

**That didn't sit well with her. The last thing she ever wanted was to be uncomfortable around Leon.**

**She decided to try to lighten the mood. She put on a cd.**

**The minute the sorrowful strains of Avril Lavigne's _Tomorrow_ hit the inside of the car, she saw Leon flinch. She started to sing along.**

**Halfway through the song, he finally spoke, "So…you're gonna go out with Ryman, huh?"**

**Surprised, she turned down the radio. "What?"**

**"You and Ryman.**** Going out on a date."**

**Curious, she looked at him for a long moment. "It seems that way. To tell you the truth, I wasn't even sure he was ever interested in me."**

**Leon**** glanced over at her and there was something on his face again. "You like him?"**

**This seemed suddenly like tricky territory. "I've always liked him."**

**Leon**** nodded, twisted his lips to the side. "Yeah. He's a good guy."**

**Taylor**** was a little slow to catch on to what was happening. Was Leon jealous? She looked at him for a long moment. **

**Not once in the past year had he ever hinted at anything other then platonic affection. If she'd felt something more for him, she'd kept it buried under a kind of brotherly love. She'd never pushed the limits. At first she hadn't wanted to ever touch a man like that again. And then, well, he'd become so good in her life she didn't want to risk that for anything.**

**But maybe he was just worried about her? Did he know something about Kevin she didn't? Was he just being over protective?**

**She said, "You don't like him."**

**And Leon looked at her again, quickly. "Actually I do. He had…a problem with the bottle about a year ago but he's really…I don't know changed since then."**

**Yeah, she'd noticed that too.**

**"I meant what I said. He's a good guy." And that really put Leon's balls in a knot.**

**He didn't want Ryman to be a good guy. He wanted him to be a jack ass or a loser or a drunk, which he had been dangerously close to being a year previous.**

**Leon had been biding his time, waiting for the right moment to try for something more with Taylor. Now all of a sudden he had another obstacle in his path. **

**Leon**** was used to trying hard to get what he wanted. He wasn't a stranger to hard work. Nothing in life should be handed to you on a silver platter.**

**He'd had girlfriends, he'd had lovers, and he liked to think he wasn't pretty good in the sack. But he'd dated girls after they'd been with Ryman. It was like trying to live up to some kind of sexual guru.**

**Leon**** was the guy women tried to marry. Ryman was the one they tried to cheat on their husband with.**

**He didn't know how Taylor felt about him. Maybe it was all some kind of friendly love. But he knew that throwing Ryman into the mix was a sure fire way to lose her forever.**

**The man didn't have an ounce of low self esteem.**

**Taylor**** said, "Then what's wrong? You don't seem happy for me. I'm finally gonna try to get back out there. I've been living like a eunuch for the past year."**

**He knew that. Hell, he'd watched her struggle with herself, with everything. He'd done his best to be there for whatever she needed. That meant something, it had to mean something.**

**Leon**** decided to take the path of least resistance. He said, "I just want you to be careful. I worry about you."**

**It was exactly what she thought. He wasn't jealous. He was worried about her.**

**She was touched and unfortunately a little disappointed. Leon was amazing. Handsome, charming, sensitive, sexy…and probably oblivious to her as a woman in every way. She was the little sister.**

**That was it.**

**She leaned back against the seat and wondered, just for a moment, what it'd be like if he saw her as a woman.**

****

**Cindy watched him the whole time he worked.**

**The plumbing under J's Bar had been bad for the better part of three months. They'd had three different plumbers try to fix it, three different estimates on what was wrong, and three different outrageous bills for a problem that wasn't even a problem.**

**David King was different.**

**He was quick, efficient and reasonable about the price.**

**He was also gorgeous.**

**She'd seen him in the bar before. Always with friends or for a quick drink after work.**

**He'd been polite, charming but never flirtatious and for Cindy, that was just unacceptable.**

**She'd seen him and Taylor talking before, they seemed to get along just fine. But David had never even said more then please and thank you to Cindy, and for a woman used to getting any and every man she wanted, this was intriguing.**

**She watched him work, the line of his legs and but well displayed in the full coverage of his brown jumpsuit. He was routing around under the sink in the kitchen.**

**Cindy leaned against the wall and said, "So…what's wrong with my pipes, Mr. King?"**

**David poked his head out and looked at her. **

**His hair was just long enough to sweep over his forehead, his eyes dark and soulful. He wiped his hands on his jump suit and pushed out from under the sink.**

**"Well," His voice was deep, almost painfully deep and gravelly. Cindy melted every time he spoke, "I'd say you're looking at a whole new set of plumbing."**

**That was not going to make Phil happy. Cindy could just imagine his beady little face screwed up in rage at the thought.**

**But it was exactly what Phil was expecting too.**

**The men and women's bathrooms had been overflowing at least once a night for a month. The upstairs staff bathroom was a constant hazard to use.**

**Cindy had left with a wet ass more then once.**

**"What if we don't get new pipes?" She pitched her voice a little low, smoky.**

**David didn't even seem to notice. "Well I'd say in about six to eight months you're going to have flood city around here."**

**Cindy whistled. "Well who do we call if that happens?"**

**David looked at her. "911."**

**She put on her best flirty look. "So…can I call you Dave?"**

**He smiled. "Sure."**

**"How about can I call you sometime?"**

**David paused between tools away and looked at her, grinning. "You could I guess. But you might want to ask my boyfriend before you do."**

**Cindy took a moment to absorb that. She hadn't considered that he might be gay. **

**She usually had pretty good gay-dar. She could spot a man lover a mile away. But David King had seemed as straight as an arrow. **

**She said, "Are you just trying to be polite about turning me down?"**

**He grinned. "'Fraid not. I'm as gay as a three dollar bill."**

**What a shame. And what a lucky guy who had him.**

**Cindy smiled. "Okay, let me get Phil down here. He's going to freak when you tell him."**

**"I can hardly wait."**

**Cindy walked out into the main part of the bar. **

**Surprisingly, Kevin was sitting at a table with Mark and Jim. The three of them were speaking quietly to each other and laughing. **

**He never came in anymore and, surprisingly, she found that that hurt her.**

**She'd thought they were pretty good friends. They'd screwed around a few times but it hadn't seemed to change the dynamic of their relationship much. They were almost pals. Or as close as she had ever been with a man.**

**She wandered over to where they were sitting, smiling. **

**"Hey stranger."******

**He looked up and she noticed that he was so…clean lately. It reminded her eerily of Leon. Kevin looked…like a cop.**

**"Hey Cindy."******

**Jim said, "Hey beautiful. Have a seat." He patted his lap invitingly.**

**Cindy thought about it for a minute. Jim was a pain but he was cute and he was hilarious. But she'd been down that road already and been disappointed. Unlike the myth about African American men, he was not overly endowed.**

**She looked at Mark. **

**Now, she was betting he lived up to the myth. He was a bigger man, gone to a little fat around the belly with a face that reminded her of Ving Rhames. **

**But he was happily married with 3 kids and a wife that had him wrapped around her little finger.**

**She looked at Jim and said, "Please honey. I've seen that show."**

**Jim snickered, Mark laughed.**

**She said, "Mark where's Bob tonight?"**

**He laughed. "Grandbaby's havin a birthday. He's gone up to Sacramento for the week."**

**Cindy nodded, looked at Kevin. "And where have you been lately, Officer Ryman? We haven't seen you too much."**

**Kevin smiled at her. She realized without a three days growth of beard, the smile was really something.**

**"Been getting my life together."******

**Jim snorted. "Shit brutha. Your life wouldn't be in order if you had a little midget that spent all his time organizing it into little compartments."**

**Kevin grinned. "Oh yeah? Well guess who got a date for next weekend?"**

**Jim stopped, looked at him. "A date? With who? Old Mrs. Peterman?"**

**Mrs. Peterman was a running joke around the bar. She was seventy, if she was a day, and told everyone was thiry-five. She spent at least three nights a week in J's hitting on every available man there. Cindy wasn't sure, but she figured Mrs. Peterman scored at least 2 out of every ten times. Not too bad for a seventy year old woman.**

**Kevin smiled and it was soft this time, Cindy wanted to call it sweet.**

**"Nope.**** With Taylor."**

**Mark stopped with his beer half way to his mouth. Jim choked on a potato skin. Cindy's smile froze on her face.**

**Kevin's smile widened. "That's right. Taylor."**

**Jim spit out the potato skin. "Fuck."**

**Mark was smiling now. "Well it's about damn time."**

**Jim was nodding. "Jesus man, we watched the two of you dance around each other for years."**

**Kevin was sipping from a soda. He lit a cigarette.**

**"Well, I finally felt like maybe I was good enough for her."**

**Jim was grinning. **

**Mark slapped Kevin on the shoulder. "Invite me to the wedding."**

**Jim snickered. "Name your first kid after me would ya?"**

**Cindy picked up Jim's half full beer, took a long swallow. **

**Kevin looked up at her, smiling.**

**She threw it in his face.**

**The table clattered as he pushed back, yelling. "What the fuck!"**

**Jim's eyes were so wide, Cindy thought they might pop out of head. Mark was dusting off his shirt.**

**Kevin rose, his face dripping, his uniform soaked. "What the hell, Cindy?"**

**She poked him in the chest, hard. "You've been dancing around each other for years?!"**

**He wiped at his face. "So?"**

**"So?!**** So!?" She shoved him, hard enough that he stumbled. Other patrons were looking now, intrigued.**

**"So what was I? A filler? A go-between girl? When you were fucking me, were you seeing her?"**

**Jim whistled, low. Mark was shaking his head.**

**Kevin met her eyes, squarely. "What is this Cindy? What's wrong with you?"**

**Cindy wasn't sure. She just knew that something inside of her was hurting. Was she jealous? She'd never felt this way before.**

**"So good enough to fuck but not to date right?"**** Horrified, she felt tears spring into her eyes.**

**Kevin saw it too and looked almost sick. "Cindy-"**

**"No! Forget it!" She turned on her heel. "I forgot I'm nothing more then a slut. Stupid me, I thought you might actually be my friend." **

**She hurried toward the kitchen before she started sobbing.**

**She bumped into David and shoved past him, running up the back stairs to the staff room.**

**Kevin stood there for a moment, dripping.**

**Jim was strangely silent. Mark staring pointedly at his beer.**

**The bar was unnaturally quiet. Well, Kevin thought sadly, he'd had no idea she'd been harboring anything like that.**

**He thought about going after her and decided against it. It wasn't the best idea to approach a woman who felt she'd been scorned.**

****

**Leon**** was unpacking, putting stuff away in the closet when he heard the laughter.**

**He wandered to the window and looked down into the yard.**

**Taylor**** was stomping through the snow after her dog, a pug named Mr. Pookie.**

**The pug barked once and jumped in circles around her. **

**Leon watched as they wrestled and collapsed in the snow, Taylor laughing.**

**It was a beautiful sound to him. It had been a long time before she was able to laugh again.**

**"She's something, isn't she?"**

**He turned to look at her mother, Laura, who stood in the door way to his room, watching him.**

**She was as plain as her daughter was exotic. There was a quiet strength in her that Leon knew had drawn Taylor's exotic father to her.**

**She came forward, bath towels in her arms and handed them to him.**

**"She's something alright."**

**Laura studied him and saw what her daughter didn't. **

**Leon Kennedy was in love with her. Maybe he didn't realize it but she'd seen it on his face when he'd stood there, watching Taylor.**

**Laura remembered the nights of crying after Taylor's rape. She'd raged and screamed and knew there was nothing she could do for her daughter. Her baby had been savaged and she was powerless.**

**But Leon Kennedy had been the light in the dark.**

**The first time Taylor had brought him home, about three months after the incident, Laura had been hesitant around him. **

**She'd seen upper class written all over his face, in the expensive cut of his clothing. She'd been ready to write him off as a man who took advantage of a woman in her darkest hour of need.**

**But one afternoon, when Taylor had been sitting on the back porch, sobbing, Laura had started to go out to hold her when Leon had come around from the front of house where he'd been talking to Laura's husband, Riley. **

**She'd paused and waited and watched.**

**She'd watched his face as he looked at her daughter, seen the pain in his eyes, the torture. He'd come up the steps, scooped her daughter up and held her in his lap. **

**In all her days, she'd never seen a man with more compassion or genuine concern. Even Riley, as romantic as he was, had never known what to do around her when she'd cried.**

**Leon****'s comfort had been immediate and heart felt. She'd heard her daughter's sobs trail off, seen the way his touch had soothed her and loved Leon from that moment on.**

**From then on, she'd accepted him into her heart as she would her own blood.**

**There was a different kind of torture in his eyes now and she was a woman who knew what kind of pain it was.**

**Laura watched him place the towels in the bathroom, saw the brush of his hand through his hair and did what any mother would do, she put her arms around him.**

**Leon**** was a little startled; Taylor's mother had never hugged him before. **

**He tensed and then eased, hugging her back.**

**After a moment, she drew away, smiling at him and there were tears  in her eyes.**

**She said, "Come. Tell me."**

**And surprisingly, it started to pour out of him.**

**"She has a date next weekend."**

**Laura smiled, gently. "I see. And what is this man like?"**

**Leon**** sighed, "He's a cop. Hell, he's a great cop and a good man." He sat on the bed next to her. "And apparently, she's been crazy about him for a long time."**

**Laura touched his cheek. "You're a wonderful man, Leon."**

**"Sometimes I wonder."**

**"Don't. But you've been so gentle with her."**

**"She needed gentle."**

**"Yes she did." Laura agreed. "It was that gentleness that drew her to you in the first place. But there is more to you then gentleness. And you're afraid if you show her that, she'll run away."**

**Leon**** closed his eyes.**

**"She won't. She's strong." Laura brushed a hand over his hair. "You have to tell her."**

**She felt for this man who loved her daughter. He was hurting and it hurt Laura to see it.**

**He laid his head on her shoulder, something he'd never done with his own mother. It felt good, comforting.**

**Laura smiled, touched.**

**"I'm afraid I'll lose her."**

**Laura sighed, brushed at his hair again. It was soft and silky. "You'll lose her if you don't."**

**Leon**** nodded against her shoulder.**

**"Well, what have I been missing?"**

**Laura smiled at her daughter. "I'm trying to propose, if you'll let me."**

**Taylor**** grinned, walked into the room. "Here I was going to ask Leon if he wanted to go for a walk before dinner. But I'd hate to move in on your man."**

**It touched something inside her to see the two of them sitting together, obviously happy.**

**Laura kissed Leon on the forehead as she stood. "Alright, dinner will be ready in about an hour." **

**Leon**** smiled and watched her leave. She wasn't plain, she was beautiful.**

**He said, "You think your mother would run away with me?"**

**Taylor**** looked at him. In the softness of the setting sun, he looked wonderful.**

**"I think she might."**

**Leon**** smiled, stood. "So, how about that walk?"**

**Taylor**** grinned and waited while he slipped into his jacket wound a scarf around his neck.**

**They moved through the kitchen, listening to her parent's laughter and teasing. **

**30 years they'd been married and they still seemed like newlyweds.**

**Taylor**** thought she should be so lucky.**

**They walked out the back door, opened the gate and started down the snow covered path toward the trees. **

**The sky was a rich blend of color, blues and reds and purples. It was breath taking.**

**She wanted to paint it. **

**It had been a long time since she'd sat at her easel and poured herself onto canvas. She glanced at Leon and knew that she wanted to paint him too. **

**She could see it perfectly. He would be surrounded by snow, forest, life and death mingled just as the seasons did. The death of the old and the birth of the new. Like Winter, like herself.**

**His hair would look rich against the whiteness of the earth. He would be lying on his back in the snow, his arms out to his sides, staring at the setting sun. There would be just a suggestion of a snow angel around him, just a tiny bit of melted snow on his lashes, the tip of his nose. He wasn't smiling in her minds eye, he was just lying there, daydreaming. His eyes had to be open. She couldn't pass up the chance to capture that breath taking blue.**

**They walked together in silence for more then ten minutes. She was about to ask him to pose for her when he spoke.**

**"Taylor."**

**"Hmm?"******

**"I need to tell you something."**

**His jacket would be open, showing a glimpse of the dark green shirt inside it. The scarf, that bright crimson, would be tossed negligently to one side, a splash of blood on snow. She'd-**

**"I think about you all the time."**

**Her mind blanked, wiped clear by those words.**

**She met his eyes. "Leon…"**

**"Please. I have to get this out."**

**"Okay."**

**He took her hand and his was warmer then hers, a little rougher. "I didn't want to go too fast. Didn't want to scare you."**

**Her heart beat picked up, just a little faster.**

**"I'm in love with you."**

**She stopped breathing, stared at his face. So handsome.**

**He was rubbing her knuckles with his thumb; it was a nervous gesture that she'd seen him use a thousand times.**

**He was looking at her, waiting. **

**She searched inside herself for the right words.**

**"Leon…"**

**There must have been something in that one word because she saw him draw himself away from her, felt it like a knife through the stomach. **

**"Oh don't."**

**He was shaking his head. "No, it's okay. It's fine." He drew his hand away. "I knew I shouldn't have…it doesn't matter. Let's go back."**

**"Leon wait." There was a nervous flutter starting in her stomach, rapidly turning to panic. "I need…I just need a little time."**

**"It's fine really. Don't worry about it. Just forget it."**

**He crossed his arms over his chest, the ultimate withdrawal. It couldn't have hurt more if he'd slapped her.**

**"Leon I didn't think…I didn't expect…" But she'd wondered. She'd always wondered. "You're my friend. My best friend." And she was a fool. And she was afraid.**

**His face closed up a little more with each word she spoke. She was losing him, quickly shoving knives into him over and over again.**

**"It's cold. Let's go back."**

**He turned from her, started back down the path. **

**She didn't think she'd ever felt pain like this in her life. **

**She'd been raped, body and soul and it hadn't felt like this. She watched him walk away and it was more then that, greater. It was like having a piece of herself torn out of her body.**

**Taylor hurried after him, not sure what to do, what to say.******

**_Leon_****_, I want to love you. I just don't know how._******

**She caught up to him and put her arms around his waist, hugging his back to her front. She felt his body tense and hated herself.**

**"Leon please…"**

**He stood in her arms, still as a statue. "Let's go back."**

**If only they could. **

**He pulled away and started walking. She watched him go and sat down on the snow to cry.**


	4. Four

**FOUR: Lovers and Enemies**

**This chapter sort of leads to the culmination of the love story.**** I hope its been good so far as the action is coming. I'm quite proud of it anyway and hope everyone enjoys it.**

**Without further ado.**

**FOUR- Lovers and Enemies**

**She was quiet through most of dinner. She stared at her plate a lot and pushed her food around absently with her fork.**

**Kevin sat across the table watching her. She was hurting. He could see it, hear it in her voice. **

**He'd noticed a drastic change in Kennedy the last week at work as well. He was snappish, standoffish and sometimes downright rude. **

**Half the time he came to work looking like he'd slept in his uniform. He was unshaven, unwashed and irritable. In a way, he sort of reminded Kevin of himself once upon a time.**

**What had happened between them? A one night stand turned wrong? He didn't think so. Although he could feel the sexual tension snapping in there when he was in the same room with them, he didn't think they'd actually been together.**

**In fact, he seriously doubted it since she was out with him.**

**Kevin saw the strain around her eyes, the dark circles and hated Leon Kennedy for putting them there.**

**He said, quietly, "Taylor."**

**Her eyes came up and the sadness was there.**

**"Are you okay?"**

**She smiled, "I'm fine. I'm sorry I'm not great company at the moment."**

**"It's okay. You want to tell me about it?"**

**She shook her head, glanced at her plate. "Can we go?"**

**He set his fork down. "You wanna get out of here?"**

**She nodded. "Please."**

**Kevin stood and handed her his keys. "Why don't you go wait for me in the car? I'll be out after I take care of the bill."**

**Taylor**** smiled and went to get her coat.**

**She hated the fact that Leon was ruining her date with Kevin. **

**After their pseudo argument in the woods, he hadn't spoken to her, hadn't touched her. **

**They gotten back to the house, he'd kissed her mother, shook hands with her father and said he was sorry but he needed to get back to the city.**

**So they'd packed their bags and driven back without a word. She'd tried once to talk to him and he'd simply shaken his head and turned up the radio.**

**Without so much as a farewell, he'd dropped her at her house and driven away.**

**It was the last she'd seen of him.**

**A few times in the past week, she'd tried to call him. A few times at home where she got nothing more then his answering machine and once at the station, where she'd been told he was on duty and didn't have time to take her call.**

**He was brushing her off, pushing her away and it felt like she was dying inside.**

**Taylor**** opened the door to Kevin's black Camaro and climbed inside. It was warmer in the car and she leaned back, tried to get her breath.**

**So Leon was in love with her. **

**After she'd wallowed for awhile in pity, she'd gotten angry. Did he think she was just going to fall into his arms? Did he think it was that easy for her?**

**He'd waited all this time to tell her how he felt and when she didn't fall right into his embrace, he'd acted like a spoiled child denied a cookie and pouted.**

**That wasn't the man she'd come to know.**

**Leon**** wasn't petty. He was patient and kind and loving.**

**But she wasn't stupid. She figured there were sides to him she'd yet to see. She just hated the thought that maybe deep down, Leon was the spoiled brat he was behaving as.**

**The driver's side door opened and Kevin slid in, smiling.**

**"You want me to take you home?"**

**He was being so kind. It wasn't what she expected from him. **

**It was interesting how lately he and Leon had switched roles. **

**She looked at him. **

**He was wearing a suit that probably cost him two months pay, his hair was just a little tousled which suited him perfectly, he smelled fantastic. **

**It was time. Something inside her knew it was time.**

**She touched his arm, leaned across the middle console, put her hand on his face and kissed him.**

**Her insides didn't revolt, her body didn't recoil. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She felt something tug, deep in her belly. **

**She was still a woman.**

**Kevin felt like a boy with his first kiss. His stomach was tied in knots, his hands shaky. He didn't move a muscle while she kissed him. He wondered which of them was more frightened and felt like an idiot.**

**When she leaned back a little and looked into his eyes, he didn't see any fear and it made things easier, made his insides unknot.**

**He pressed his mouth against hers again, testing.**

**She moved against him, until she was half out of her seat and in his lap.**

**He pulled her the rest of the way and deepened the kiss.**

**Taylor**** wound her arms around his neck and opened her mouth. This was how it was supposed to feel. This was the warm pressing heat that she'd been missing.**

**It was like a slow burn through her body, an awakening.**

**Their tongues slid against each other as their bodies rocked, pressing, and molding. The only sounds were the harshness of breath, the whisper of clothing.**

**After a long moment, she leaned back and whispered, "Take me home."**

**He met her eyes. "Alright."**

**She slid back into her seat.**

**"Not my house."**

**His hands gripped the wheel, hard.**

**"Your house."******

**Their eyes met, held. He was terrified, she was elated.**

**"Taylor, are you sure?"**

**"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."**

**…..**

**She'd awoken smelling like him. Like soap and something musky. **

**She was still reeling from it.**

**He'd be gentle and passionate and wonderful. They'd lain awake into the early hours of the morning talking, while his hand stroked her back, her stomach. And then he'd loved her again.**

**She'd known it could like this. She'd always known. **

**Taylor**** sat in front of the police station debating if she should stop in and see him. She didn't want to see too pushy, too clingy.**

**But he'd left her that morning with a kiss, with a promise and a smile.**

**She slid out of the car and walked toward the building. If he wasn't happy to see her, she'd be surprised.**

**Grimes was sitting at the desk and smiled hugely at her when she walked in.**

**"Taylor!"**

**"Hi Grimes."**

**"It's been awhile. You here to see Leon?"**

**Her heart ached, just a little. She opened her mouth to speak and someone said, "Well I hope she's here to see me."**

**Kevin was grinning as he opened the gate to come out to the lobby.**

**Grimes eyebrows shot up into his hair in surprise. "Well I'll be."**

**Taylor**** smiled at him and was still smiling when he took her in his arms and kissed her.**

**She thought that this was it. How it should be between a man and a woman. There shouldn't be fear and vomit and tears.**

**She trailed her nails down the chest of his uniform. "I was just on my way home. I thought I'd pop in for a minute."**

**Kevin brushed a hand down her hair. "Well I'm glad you did."**

**"Me too."******

**He leaned down to kiss her again.**

**There was a loud crash from somewhere in the back of the station.**

**They both turned their heads to look.**

**Leon**** stood there with something close to a snarl on his face. **

**For a moment, Taylor wasn't sure it was him. He looked horrible like he'd managed to lose too much weight in a week. His hair looked damp, like he'd just come from splashing it with water, there was a few days worth of shadow on his cheeks. **

**She drew back a little from Kevin, opened her mouth to speak.**

**Leon**** stomped toward them. There was a loud snap of the gate slamming closed behind him as he stepped into the lobby**

**Taylor**** was afraid he was going to pick a fight with Kevin. But Kevin's body hadn't tensed, he seemed utterly calm.**

**Leon didn't say a word, he simply stormed by them and out the doors to the parking lot.**

**Taylor**** watched him go. Kevin said, quietly, "Go on. Go after him."**

**She looked at his face, tried to see something but Kevin's face was merely soft and smiling at her.**

**She kissed him again, quickly and said, "I'll call you later." And then she ran out the doors after Leon.**

**Grimes whistled low after they'd gone and Kevin turned to look at him.**

**"She's in love with that boy."**

**Kevin sighed, felt something tighten inside of him. "I was afraid you were going to say something like that."**

**Taylor**** was running full tilt by the time she caught up to Leon. He slammed his car door at the same moment she started rapping on the window with her hand.**

**"Leon! Leon stop this! Talk to me! Leon!"**

**He started the car, slammed it into reverse and backed up so quickly that she had little choice but to move or get run over.**

**Taylor**** ran to her car, fumbled herself behind the wheel, and squealed off after him.**

**She'd had enough of his pouting. They were friends damn it. And he was acting like a child.**

**He was going to get a piece of her mind.**

**He drove hard and fast, through red lights, narrowly missing other vehicles. She kept close to him and watched him swing hard into the parking lot of the Apple Inn.**

**She wondered why he wasn't staying at his house a moment before she was out of the car and after him.**

**She dove through the doors of the elevator a second before they closed.**

**Out of breath, she said, "You think you can just run away from me?"**

**His jaw was clenched so tight, she wondered that he didn't break any of his teeth.**

**"You're gonna have to talk to me sometime, ya know."**

**The elevator pinged and he stepped out with her on his heels. He stopped at room 302 and opened the door, slamming inside.**

**She caught the door with the palm of her hand and shoved it open, slamming it closed behind her.**

**If he wanted to fight, so be it. She was ready.**

**He threw his keys down on the nightstand and turned to face her. "Get out of here."**

**It was the first words he'd spoken to her in a week.**

**"No."**

**They glared at each other for a long moment before he shrugged and started undoing the buttons of his uniform. **

**So he was going to strip, it didn't matter. She was so angry so thought she might pull his side arm and shoot him.**

**Leon**** shrugged out of his shoulder holster, threw it on the floor, and stripped off his uniform top.**

**Taylor**** had a moment of blankness as she studied his chest for the first time. **

**He was thinner through the face but his body was still amazing. She figured part of it was good genes and the other part strenuous exercise.**

**His arms were capped with muscle, his chest and stomach rippling with it. **

**She gathered her resolve and said, "You're being a child."**

**He paused with his hands on the button of his pants. There was so much anger in his face; it hurt her to see it.**

**"Did you fuck him, Taylor? Was it good?"**

**He was being crude, trying to hurt her. And damned if it didn't work.**

**"Yes I did. And it was great, thank you for asking."**

**Leon****'s lip curled, just a little. "Yeah I've heard that about him. He's great in the sack."**

**"He is."**

**He flinched, just a little. "What do I mean to you, Taylor? Nothing? I was fucking there for you. And where was he? Oh that's right. He was fucking Cindy."**

**She crossed her arms over his chest, looked at him. "I thought you were my friend Leon."**

**He threw down the shirt of his uniform. "Your friend. Your fucking friend. Well you got me there. I was your friend but stupid me, somewhere along the way I actually fell in love with you."**

**Taylor**** took a step forward and stopped. "I told you I just needed some time Leon."**

**"Time right.**** Time to fuck Kevin Ryman?"**

**That hurt. And Taylor figured it hurt so badly because partly it was true. "I told you how I'd always felt about him."**

**"That's great. That's just fucking great." He reached into his pocket, lit up a cigarette. "But all I ever cared about was you. I was trying to be gentle, trying to be slow. I wanted to show you that not all men are horrible monsters."**

**"And you did, Leon…"**

**"But somewhere in all that I stepped into the permanent friend zone. It's like sorry Leon but take this nice consolation prize: A lifetime of watching the woman you love, love another man!" He laughed harshly and stubbed out the cigarette. He walked into the bathroom, turned on the water in the sink and splashed his face.**

**Taylor**** felt like someone had reached inside her and torn her heart out.**

**Leon came out of the bathroom, his hair dripping, his face wet. She did the only thing she knew to do.**

**She went forward and put her arms around his waist.**

**His skin was warm, his chest just a little damp where her cheek lay. She felt the tension singing through his body like an electrical wire balanced precariously over water.**

**He said, "Let me go Taylor."**

**And everything inside of her wanted to die. **

**She felt the tears slide out, brush wetly against his chest. "Leon please don't do this. I miss you. I need you in my life."**

**And he answered, his voice ragged, "I can't be what you need me to be anymore."**

**The sadness in her chest blossomed into anger. Was he so selfish? Did he not see this was as hard on her as it was on him?**

**She shoved at him and he stumbled, just a little.**

**"Damn you!" Their eyes flashed at each other. "What do you want from me Leon? You want to me confess my undying love for you?"**

**His jaw clenched.**

**"You want the truth? I'll give it you." She stalked a step back to him, looked up into his face. "You are the best thing that has ever come into my life. You were the only thing that kept me from slitting my wrists, from giving it all up. There is a bond with you that I will never ever feel with another living person, let alone another man. And that terrifies me." His eyes had softened, just a little. "And you are the biggest, spoiled brat I have ever met."**

**They sparked again as he grabbed her arms, pulled her just a little bit up off the floor until their faces were even. "Being in love with you doesn't make me spoiled. It makes me stupid."**

**She slapped him, just once, just hard enough that his head snapped back and his lip split.**

**His eyes sparked, hot enough that she was frightened for a single shining moment. But it was Leon and he would never hurt her.**

**"Go on." His voice was gruff, harsh. "Hit me again if it makes you feel better."**

**There was so much pain inside her, so much rage. She whispered, "I hate you."**

**And he growled once, darkly and shoved her. He slammed her into the wall and followed her.**

**She had a flash of unnerved fear and his mouth came down, hard and fast.**

**The moment he kissed her, she responded. To his rage, to her own.**

**Their mouths smashed together, tongues intertwining. She fisted her hands in his hair and poured herself into him.**

**He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he turned and walked them to the bed.**

**He came down atop her, their mouths still fighting furiously for control.**

**His hands moved furiously over her, jerking at her jacket. She pressed her mouth to his chest, ran her tongue over him.**

**There was the loud sound of her shirt ripping and his mouth was on her, over her, through the silk of her bra. **

**She screamed, arched toward. Her hands raced over his shoulders as his hands jerked at her jeans, pulling them free of her. There was a rustle of clothing, the pant of labored breathing. **

**His mouth clamped over her, hot and fast. She scrambled her hands on the comforter, cried out. The orgasm built in a scalding wave; she felt her body splinter apart from her mind. Her hand squeezed tight on the covers and she threw her head back with a scream.**

**Leon**** felt the moment her body tumbled over, felt her release, and never thought he'd ever known such hunger before.**

**He crawled up her body and she lifted her arms to slide them around him. When he was close enough, she lifted her body, ran them along the slickness of his torso. The muscles, there were so many muscles.**

**They danced over the zipper of his pants. She could feel him pressing against the metal teeth, hard and ready.**

**With a deft flick of fingers, the zipper gave and she slid her hand inside his boxers to cup him.**

**Leon**** hissed harshly through his teeth. Her hand felt like silk.**

**He rolled his head against her shoulder and kissed her. It was a little slower this time, a little softer.**

**He flattened a hand on either side of her head and pushed his lower body against hers. Taylor moaned, slid her hands down his sides. **

**There was a sound of cloth pooling on the ground.**

**He moved to the edge of the bed, took her hips in his hands. She gripped handfuls of comforter and met his eyes.**

**With a look that was part primal fury, part encompassing passion, he drove himself into her.**

**Taylor**** cried out as something that was dangerously close to joy slipped through her. She arched her body against him as he leaned just a little over her, bracing himself around her.**

**She took his face in her hands, a gesture so genuine between them, so pure and whispered, "Yes."**

**Leon**** let himself go. Part of him had been afraid, part of him elated.**

**With something close to a cry, he started to move inside her.**

**The bed creaked a little with the force of their bodies merging. Taylor had a moment to see the colors in the room become a rainbow blur and she was tumbling, screaming, was soaring down into a chasm where there was nothing but feeling and heat and light.**

**Leon**** was over her, in her, wrapped around her like a monkey and he shuddered and laid his mouth against hers as his body erupted inside her.**

**Movement of bodies rolling, arms and legs that tangled like roots in the earth. He held her, smooth and soft and sweating against his side. **

**There was the harsh sound of their breathing; a cacophony of sound in an otherwise silent room.**

**She could feel him, wet and hot deep in her body. **

**With everything that had built between them, she wanted to say they'd simply fucked each other. It was natural, it was healthy. **

**But it was Leon and he was more then that.**

**Taylor**** had thought that the first hint of any kid of passion that edged toward violence would frighten her, send her screaming for the hills.**

**But she'd never been scared of Leon, never been afraid of anything inside him. Although she could admit, at least to herself, that she'd never imagined that he harbored this kind of desire for her.**

**She ran a hand down the softly heaving muscles of his stomach.**

**Dressed Leon was impossibly handsome, beautiful in the purity of his manhood. Naked, he was a revelation.**

**In her minds eye, she'd never imagined he would look like this.**

**Her hair fell around them like red edged silk. Leon skimmed his hand through it, another old gesture, and then slid his other hand down her back, over the curve of her butt and this was new.**

**He hadn't meant for it to come to this between them. Never pictured it as something pent up, something explosive. In his planning, there had been candles and wine and music.**

**But nothing ever went as he planned with her. **

**She'd enjoyed him. Hell, she'd clenched around him more then once so he knew she wouldn't be disappointed. But he was terribly afraid she would run.**

**To his surprise, she leaned up on one elbow and looked down into his face.**

**He met her eyes, trying to keep his carefully blank. He thought he was doing well until she spoke.**

**"Well, where have you been hiding Mr. Kennedy?"**

**He saw her mouth curve and felt his echo it. Maybe she wouldn't run.**

**There was a suggestion of beard burn around her mouth, on her neck. He lifted a hand and trailed it over the delicate white of her skin.**

**She saw where his eyes were aimed and smiled again.**

**"Did I hurt you?"**

**So there was still something of the man she knew in the god before her.**

**Taylor**** took his hand and kissed the fingers. "I'm not a flower, Leon."**

**"Do I owe you an apology?"**

**"For what?**** Multiple orgasms? I swear the nerve of some men! I told you I only wanted one!" But she was grinning and so he relaxed.**

**"Taylor…"**

**"Leon I know there are things we need to talk about, stuff that needs dealt with. But I don't want to do it right now. Do you?"**

**He lifted his hand, slid it down her body and watched the light that speared through her eyes again.**

**"Well I think we could probably find something else to do."**

**One corner of her mouth lifted as she lowered her head, trapped his lips in a kiss that had him pushing against the softness of her hip. **

**She whispered, "Oh I think we can manage somehow."**

**……**

**When Leon got to work the next day, he was whistling. **

**His uniform was neatly pressed, his hair just a little disheveled from roaming fingers, his face cleanly shaven. There was a bounce in his step that he hadn't had for a long time. Not even when he'd first started on the force.**

**It didn't take him long to figure out what was different. He was happy. Truly, completely happy.**

**He practically skipped through the front door of the R.P.D. station.**

**Grimes, looking harried and harassed, took one look at his face and said, "Well good for you."**

**Leon grinned and one of the lounging hookers, Darla a regular, sat up and said, "Well there's my handsome love. Where ya been all my life?"**

**Leon**** winked at her and opened the gate to the back. He called, "I'm gonna grab a swim before I clock in. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be in the pool."**

**Grimes waved exuberantly and when Leon was gone said to Darla, "There's gonna be a shit storm today."**

**The hooker leaned forward as far as her cuff would let her, "Whatchu mean?"**

**But Grimes was already shaking his head, "Just watch and see."**

**As if by destiny or a cruel twist of fate, Kevin strode into the station. He looked tired, weary and just a little hung over. **

**Although Grimes wasn't betting on the last part.**** Ryman hadn't touched a bottle like that in almost a year. He didn't seem like the weak type to fall off the wagon over a woman.**

**Kevin nodded at Darla and stopped at the desk. "I see his car. Where is he?"**

**Darla's heavily bangled ears perked up. **

**Grimes sighed and said, "I think he said something about going for a swim."**

**Kevin nodded and strolled through the gate toward the pool. He wasn't sure what he was going to say or what he was going to do.**

**He only knew that he'd seen Taylor leaving the Apple Inn that morning with a stupid looking grin on her face and t-shirt that was more rag then shirt.**

**Kevin had all but saw red.**

**The drive to the station had calmed him only a little. **

**He pushed open the doors to the pool and stood there for a moment, watching Kennedy swim. **

**The man swam like he did everything else in life: superbly.**

**He stood at the far side of the pool until Leon finished his last stroke, placed his hands on the lip of the pool and hoisted himself up. **

**Admittedly, he had a great set of arms. **

**Kevin put a lot of effort into being in shape but it seemed effortless for Kennedy. Just another thing he was better at.**

**Leon**** lifted the goggles off his face, brushed a hand through his hair and said, "What?"**

**Kevin spit out the toothpick in his mouth. He'd been trying to quit smoking but one look at the smug expression on Kennedy's face and he figured, fuck it.**

**"You get off on this don't you?" His voice was calm, surprisingly, "You think you're the luckiest son of bitch who ever lived."**

**Kennedy looked at him for a long moment before he answered. "I was considering playing it vague. You know, pretending I didn't know what you were talking about. But on second thought, I decided I wasn't in the mood for games."**

**He walked around Kevin toward the locker room.**

**Kevin, unable to do anything else, followed him.**

**Half way to the locker room, Kennedy stopped and turned back to face him.**

**"How does it feel to know she was in my arms all last night?"**

**Kevin felt the anger rising again. He stepped forward until they were less then a foot apart.**

**Kennedy had a little more then an inch of height on him but it was okay, he was used to being the smaller man.**

**He said, quietly, "How does it feel to know she was in my bed first?"**

**If there was something Kevin Ryman knew how to do well, it was push someone's buttons. He wanted to see the same rage on Kennedy's face that he was feeling.**

**He wasn't disappointed. Kennedy's jaw clenched.**

**"What pisses you off more Ryman? That you were so bad that she came to me? Or that I was there that night and you weren't?"**

**Kevin's vision went red. He charged.**

**He caught Kennedy in a low tackle and the two of them went sprawling. Straddling him, he slammed a fist into his jaw hard enough that one of his knuckles split.**

**Kennedy came up swinging. He landed a solid right hook that had Kevin rolling to one side, his eye swelling almost instantly.**

**So Kennedy wasn't a complete pussy, he'd taken him for a spoiled, upper class shit who hid behind his family's money.**

**He laughed once and charged him again.**

**Out in the lobby, Grimes heard the yelling. His ears perked up as did Darla's. They exchanged a look at the same time cops started shouting around the station.**

**One yelled, "I got twenty bucks on Ryman!"**

**Another one challenged, "I'll take that bet!"**

**They started scrambling for the pool area as more bets were placed. One of the rookies, Stanton, had started a collection. It seemed the odds were two to one against Leon. **

**Grimes thought that was a little misguided. He'd seen Leon fight before, seen him take down suspects. He was no slouch. What he lacked in street skill, he made up for in ability and brute strength. The kid had fucking arms like pythons.**

**Sometimes it sucked being in charge of the desk. He knew he was missing a hell of a show.**

**"Where is everybody?"**

**He looked up to see Taylor standing there. The show was about to get better.**

**He said, quite calmly, "There's a fight going on in the pool."**

**Taylor****'s eyebrows winged up. **

**Darla said, grinning, "It's Ryman and Kennedy." And she looked as disappointed as Grimes felt.**

**Taylor**** whispered, "Oh my god." And Grimes buzzed her through.**

**She was running by the time she got beyond the gate.**

**Grimes cursed the day a well placed shot had given him a limp in his left leg and sat behind the desk with a pout on his face.**

**But he'd put fifty bucks on Kennedy so he figured, on the upside, he'd be taking the wife out for lobster tonight.**

**It wasn't much but it was better then nothing.**


	5. Five

**FIVE- The Calm before the Storm**

**So after this chapter things will really start to pick up. This is sort of the end of the truly romantic stuff and a head long jump into the action. **

**I'm banging away like a mad woman at the keyboard on this. I hope you all like it. **

**Please read it! I haven't got hardly any reviews ****L****.**

**It gets better, I promise. Lot of favorites characters coming into the story and a few hated ones too. So here we go.**

**FOUR-The Calm before the Storm**

**          Chris Redfield was sitting behind his desk, reading over reports that might as well have been written in Chinese, when he heard the yelling.**

**He looked up in surprise to see three R.P.D. officers run past the S.T.A.R.S. office with excited expressions. **

**Jill Valentine was sitting at the desk across from him. Their eyes locked with matching looks.**

**They were missing something much more exciting then paper work.**

**She shoved away from her desk at the same moment he did.**

**Chris took a moment to appreciate how her ass looked in her uniform as he followed her toward the door. **

**As far as asses went, hers was a winner. It was a shame they were such good friends or he might have made a move on her.**

**At the door, Barry Burton poked his door in and said around his shaggy red beard, "Fight at the pool."**

**Jill all but clapped her hands. "Who?"**

**"Kennedy and Ryman."******

**Chris cursed. He and Leon were on pretty good terms and Kevin Ryman was Chris's sometimes drinking buddy. They were both pretty big guys and he knew the only reason they'd go at each other. **

**Taylor****.**

**Jill was laughing. "Well this was a long time coming."**

**Chris was already moving past her, his appreciation of her butt forgotten. "They'll tear each other a new one if we don't get in there."**

**Jill watched him hurry down the hallway. Chris was something to watch when he got riled up, it was a shame they were such good friends or she'd have asked him out a long time ago.**

**Barry paced along beside her, "So…who do you think will win?"**

**"Kevin, hands down."**

**Barry snickered. "I bet you a dinner at Twilight Coast, it's Leon."**

**Jill whistled. "Them are high stakes, Burton. You know I got a weakness for good Steak tar-tar."**

**"Come on, don't be a chicken."**

**"All right, you're on."**

**They hurried a little faster, not wanting to miss the action. Jill was thinking she'd ask Chris to go with her; Barry was planning how to turn it to his advantage with his wife. Maybe he'd ask Jill to baby sit.**

**Chris was just about to push open the doors to the pool when Taylor rushed up beside him. **

**He grabbed her arm. "Whoa."**

**"Chris! Let go of me!"**

**"Taylor if you go storming in there, you're just gonna get 'em more riled up. Let me handle it."**

**"They'll tear you apart."**

**Okay. That bruised his ego a little bit. He was pretty sure he could take them or at least go down swinging but he shook aside his damaged pride and said, "Just stay back at least, okay? If I can't handle it, you can jump right in."**

**Taylor**** looked at him a moment before she agreed.**

**He pushed open the doors and heard the cheering. **

**At the stricken look on Taylor's face, he felt kind of ashamed. But he figured she knew men were animals and cops were the worst kind. **

**Of course, only three-fourths of the R.P.D. force was male. The other fourth was female and just as loud and boisterous as the men.**

**He pushed through crowded bodies and finally yelled, "Make a hole pigs!"**

**That got him a few curses and yelled insults but it worked, they made a hole.**

**He moved through them and caught sight of the action. It was impressive, if a little out of control.**

**Leon's lower half of his face was a red ruin, one eye was swelled shut and there was a cut about an inch long on his forehead. **

**Kevin wasn't faring any better. His right cheek was swollen badly, indicating at least one or two broken jaw teeth, maybe a fractured cheek bone. His lower lip dripped blood on the concrete and his right eye looked like it might be oozing puss.**

**Leon****'s chest was already starting to purple with bruising. He couldn't see Kevin's, as he had his uniform on, but he figured it had to be at least as bad.**

**Kevin landed a solid upper cut and Leon went staggering, listing badly to one side. Chris thought it was from a possible concussion more then the force of the blow.**

**Leon hit the ground on his hands and knees, spit blood.**

**Chris thought it might be over, but the rookie surprised him, he came up with a perfectly executed kick. **

**Kevin caught it right in the chest and staggered like a drunk with a loud whoosh of air.**

**Leon**** caught him in a tackle and they grappled for a minute before they teetered and fell sideways into the pool.**

**Taylor**** let out a cry and ran forward.**

**Chris was close behind her.**

**Taylor**** dove into the water and Chris vaulted in from the side. It was deep enough that the water was chest high before he came between the two men.**

**Kevin was trying to drown Leon, who was kicking at the other man.**

**Taylor, no more then five four, was struggling to stay above the water on her tip toes. **

**She swam between them as Kevin swung. **

**Chris had a moment to see disaster coming before he waded in. He caught the flying fist in his own and applied enough pressure that Kevin winced and stopped the punch.**

**An inch farther and he'd have knocked Taylor cold.**

**She was pushing on Leon's chest, backing him up, forcing him to tread water. **

**She screamed, "What the fuck is wrong with the two of you?"**

**Chris and Kevin faced off against each other. He could see the gleam in Kevin's eye, the blood lust. He'd been on both ends of that kind of look. He wondered if Kevin was going to try to take him out to keep fighting.**

**From the rapid cheering of the rest of the cops crowded around the pool, it sounded like they were just hoping he would.**

**Leon**** was huddled just a little around what was undoubtedly a set of beautifully bruised ribs. He was panting but he hadn't tried to close the distance between them. He was letting Taylor push him back.**

**"Somebody better answer me, right now!" She'd backed Leon into deeper water and lost her footing, going under.**

**Leon**** grabbed her and lifted. **

**She came up spluttering and furious. Chris was impressed by that ferocity. He hadn't known she had it in her.**

**She kicked Leon in the knee and he winced, letting her go. **

**She swam back to safe standing room and said, "You have five seconds to tell me what's going on before I kick the shit out of both of you."**

**Kevin was still looking like he was willing to take Chris out. Chris tensed his body, ready to take a blow if it stopped the fight.**

**Taylor**** saw it and said, "Don't you dare."**

**Kevin shifted his gaze, met hers and pulled himself back, just barely.**

**She yelled, "I'm waiting."**

**Kevin said, quietly, "This isn't the place for this, Taylor."**

**Taylor**** looked like she was ready to spit nails. "Isn't the place for what? Talking? But it's the place for fighting, is that it?"**

**Kevin managed to look a little ashamed. Leon was still a little huddled and looked red through the cheeks.**

**"Please tell that you weren't just fighting over me."**

**Kevin hissed, "You sleep with me, then you sleep with him. What the fuck is that?"**

**The cops all quieted. A fight was one thing, a drama was another.**

**In a way, this was far more entertaining.**

**Taylor's face softened, just a touch, "So what? Do you own me now? We had sex and now I'm your property?"**

**Kevin looked furious again. **

**Chris felt there was something distinctly reversed about this conversation. It was if man and woman had switched roles.**

**Leon was now grabbing the edge of the pool, holding himself up.**

**Kevin said, "So what then? It was nothing? You turn around and head straight back to dependable old Leon."**

**Taylor****'s face was white with fury. "What do you want me to say Kevin? It happened. I didn't plan it. It just did."**

**"Are you sorry about it?"**

**She was silent.**

**"I didn't think so." Kevin moved a little through the water and stumbled. "So which one of us was better huh? Prissy pants Harvard prep?"**

**Taylor**** shook her head. "Jesus. If I would have known I was sleeping with two infantile idiots, I wouldn't have bothered with either of you." **

**She slogged through the water. "I don't know what I was thinking. You want to kill each other, have at it."**

**Chris watched her wade toward the edge of the pool and thought he'd never seen a woman with so much class. She could have opened a whole new can of worms and let it go. It proved she was more then she seemed.**

**Kevin shoved him in the chest and Chris stumbled, half sliding into the water. It was okay, he'd been expecting it but it pissed him off a little because he'd been watching Taylor when it had come.**

**Men often found alternate outlets for their anger.**

**Chris steadied himself and lifted a brow. The guy was all but dead on his feet but he was pissed and Chris was available.**

**Kevin hissed, "This isn't your problem Redfield."**

**Chris smiled, boyishly, "You really don't think I'm gonna stand here while you kill each other do you?"**

**"Bring it on then and stop me."**

**Chris sighed. He knew better then to argue with a seriously pissed off cop.**

**Kevin rushed him, as best as he could in chest deep water, and Chris had a moment to be surprised when he didn't go for a punch but a foot sweep.**

**Chris went under with a new found respect.**

**He came up to Taylor yelling.**

**"For god's sake!"******

**Chris blinked the water out of his eyes, coughed it out of his nose, and watched Kevin slam Leon's head into the concrete edge of the pool.**** Blood spilled; dull red over the water.**

**Leon**** surprisingly didn't go down. He came back with a solid elbow to Kevin's face that had Kevin's entire body snapping backward. He splashed on his back in the water and went under, knocked cold.**

**Chris was already swimming, he went under to bring him back up.**

**He caught Kevin around the chest and swam to the surface, holding the limp man in a one armed grip as he swam to the lip of the pool.**

**Jill and Barry were there to help lift the unconscious man out.**

**Taylor stood, soaking wet, just outside the pool. There was some kind of pain on her face that hurt Chris to see. It had to be hell loving two men.**

**He climbed out as Jill felt for a pulse and nodded. Fine just knocked out. It was what he'd expected.**

**Someone yelled loudly and Chris whipped his head around to see Leon fall backward into the water. He'd been trying to lift himself out and passed out.**

**Taylor**** was already running to him. **

**She leapt in and pulled him up as Chris ran around to the opposite side of the pool to help lift him free.**

**Someone yelled, "Who was the winner?"**

**Someone else said, "I think it was a double K.O."**

**The fighting began over who was the winner. **

**Taylor**** brushed at Leon's hair, lifted his eyelids, and whispered, "Damn them all."**

**He thought she might have been talking about the wagering cops but he wasn't certain. Either way, he was pretty inclined to agree with her.**

**…….**

**Chris rolled out of bed with a yawn. **

**It was almost six, too early for a run, too late for lounging on the couch watching the news.**

**He slipped on a t-shirt over his boxers and wandered into the kitchen to have a cup of coffee. The first sniff of roasting java had him smiling.**

**There was a quick knock on his door and Chris scratched his stomach, wondering. He walked to the front door and opened it, squinting against the sun.**

**Taylor was standing there on the porch, pacing and muttering to herself.**

**In the month since the fiasco with Leon and Kevin, they'd become good friends. **

**He'd supported her decision to take a break from both men. In fact, he'd agreed with it. **

**It would give both of them time to cool down; give her a chance to decide what she wanted.**

**After she'd made sure neither of them would be permanently damaged, she'd severed the tie.**

**As far as Chris knew, she hadn't spoken to either man once in the whole month since it happened.**

**She smiled at him. "Hi."**

**"Hey.'**

**"Do you got a minute?"**

**"Sure. Come on in."**

**He kicked aside an old pair of jeans as she crossed the threshold and had a moment to decide if he was embarrassed by the clutter of his house. He quickly figured he wasn't trying to impress her and offered her a cup of coffee.**

**"Yeah thanks."**

**They went back into the kitchen and she sat down at the table.**

**When he was seated across from her, she said, "Kevin's sleeping with Cindy again."**

**Chris choked on his coffee.**

**Taylor**** patted him roughly on the back and said, "Sorry. It just slipped out like that."**

**Chris shook his head, coughed. "It's okay. Uh. When did you find this out?"**

**She looked both depressed and angry. "This morning. I came out to find her waving him off."**

**Cindy had lost the lease on her apartment and had been living temporarily with Taylor. **

**Chris tried to be tactful. "How do you feel about it?"**

**"Honestly?"**

**"Yeah."******

**"Royally pissed."**** She stood and paced again. "He gets in a huge fight over me and then, poof, he's off fucking someone else."**

**Chris decided it was time to push. "Well you only had sex. It's not like you own him or something."**

**Taylor swung back, ready to lash out and saw the smile on his face. **

**Deflated, she sat down again with a sigh. **

**"Did you think they'd wait forever?"**

**Her head came up, there was something close to horror on her face. "They? Is Leon seeing someone?"**

**Chris opened his mouth and she snowed right over him. "Who? What does she look like? Where'd he meet her? What's she like? Is she nice?" She shoved away from the table again. "I'm gonna kick her ass."**

**Chris crossed his arms over his chest and waited until she ran down.**

**Taylor**** seemed to hear herself and went pink across the cheeks. "Well…shit."**

**"Well I think you have an answer."**

**She looked at him, sadly. "I'm scared of loving anyone."**

**And that's what he'd been afraid of.**

**Chris stood, came around the table and knelt in front of her. "Taylor, Kevin and Leon…they're both good men. It's not a crime that you can't choose between them." Although he thought she already had. She just had to realize it. **

**She sighed. "I feel so different around each of them. I used to imagine myself married to Kevin with little cop children running around. He's charming and handsome and funny. When I'm with him, it's like the realization of something I wanted for a long time."**

**She stood walked to the window to look out over the city.**

**Chris followed her, leaned on the counter and said, "And Leon?"**

**She looked at him and there was so much sadness in her eyes that Chris wanted to hug her and take some of it away. She reminded him of Claire, his sister. She was tough and smart and beautiful. It explained why he felt so brotherly around her.**

**"Leon." She looked back out the window. "He was there for me. He saved my life. He took something broken and made it strong again." She closed her eyes. "He was my salvation, the only thing that made life worth living. Leon's sensitive and gorgeous and sexy. When I'm with him…" She trailed off, opened her eyes. "I'm alive."**

**Chris smiled at her, gently. "Well you have to decide what's worth fighting for and hanging onto. The dream or the man."**

**Taylor smiled, kiss him, hard on the mouth.**

**"I love ya."**

**"I know it."**

**"Now I gotta go." She ran for the door. "Wish me luck."**

**"Luck."******

**He watched her go and felt good about himself. Maybe he'd go for a run after all and then he was calling Jill. Sometimes good advice shouldn't be wasted.**

**…..**

**Leon**** stepped out of the shower and looked at himself in the mirror. There was a suggestion of a scar at his hair line. He was an idiot, they both were and it had cost them both Taylor.**

**On the radio, the morning D.J. was taking calls and playing requests for people lucky enough to get through.**

**He sighed, flipped it off, and walked out of the bathroom in a towel.**

**He was just slipping into his uniform when his front door opened.**

**Startled, still shirtless, he snatched up his Desert Eagle and put his back against the wall beside his bedroom door.**

**The door had been locked which meant it was either a really good lock pick or-**

**"Leon?"**

**Taylor****.**

**Shocked, he put the gun down and stepped into the door way.**

**She stood in the living room and smiled at him.**

**He was so surprised he was speechless.**

**She motioned to him with one hand and walked toward his stereo. **

**Flabbergasted, he followed and said, "Taylor-"**

**"Wait please. Just a minute."**

**She flipped on the stereo and spun the dial to the radio station he'd just turned off in the bathroom.**

**Confused, he started to ask what was going on when the D.J. said, "And this one is for Officer Leon Kennedy from Taylor. Taylor says she's sorry she was too stupid to know what she wanted and she hopes you understand."**

**Leon**** stood there as Chicago's _Glory of Love_ started playing.**

**Taylor**** was watching him, silently.**

**When the song finished and she turned off the radio, they stood facing each other, still silent.**

**Unable to take it anymore, he took her in his arms and kissed her.**

**She wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "I'm so corny."**

**He breathed her in, laid his head on her shoulder. "I love you."**

**"I love you too. I'm sorry."**

**"Don't. I was wrong. Not you."**

**"It doesn't matter who was wrong. Let's forget it. Okay?"**

**"Okay."**

**"I want you to move in with me."**

**Leon**** started and pulled away to look at her. "What?"**

**"I want to live with you. If you'll have me."**

**He laughed, gathered her close. "Ah god. I must be dreaming. Someone's going to pinch me soon."**

**"Is that a yes?"**

**"It's a definite yes."**

**"Fabulous." She took his face in her hands, slid one finger over the scar on his forehead. "No more laughing, Officer Kennedy."**

**"I'm a beaten man."**

**"I was hoping you'd say something like that." And she took his mouth with hers and followed him down onto the couch.**


	6. Six: Outbreak

**Okay so here's where it's going to really get moving. You'll notice that it's sort of a written version of the first scenario of Outbreak with an extra person thrown in for fun. Some of it won't coincide with the game exactly, so don't freak out on me and quit reading. **

**The action picks up a lot from now on and the romance sort of goes on the back burner for a bit. I hope you like it. **

**Cannibal, my current sole reviewer, keep**** up the great support. It's the only reason I'm still posting lol.**

**SIX- Outbreak**

**She wasn't sure what she was going to say to Kevin when she saw him. Something told her he'd come into the bar that night.**

**It was the way of the world. She was bound to experience just a little more unhappiness before she could be really happy.**

**They'd spent the better part of the day moving Leon's stuff into her house. **

**It made sense really. Her place was bigger and closer to both the station and the bar. His was always falling apart. **

**The reason he had been staying at the Apple Inn is because he'd had roofers tearing off the roof of his house and putting on a new one.**

**So they'd packed up his Jeep, packed up her Civic, moved all the little things and then managed to talk Phil into letting them borrow his Dodge 4x4 to move Leon's furniture.**

**Surprisingly, there wasn't much of it. There was a couch (which Taylor was afraid was going to end up hidden in her basement. It was horrid.). There was a leather recliner that she managed to convince him to put in the den (it had a massager built into it.) There were a few chairs and a tiny table that had made up his kitchen. And a full bed which was little more then a futon. She had managed to get him to agree to leave the bed behind.**

**The biggest thing they moved was an entertainment center and a 44 inch big screen t.v. that had made up his living room.**

**There had been a lot of bickering over where to put things, over which person's stuff looked best where, but in the end, they'd laughed and loved each other on that tiny kitchen table (and on leather recliner, in the bathtub, on the floor of the den…).**

**At the bar, people were spread out in the groups.**

**The minute she walked in, she knew something was up.**

**She stopped by Jim and said, "What's going on here?"**

**Jim sighed and gestured to the news caster on t.v. He was giving a report about the cannibal murders that had been springing up around the city. He was saying something about them getting worse, about a couple found not far from the bar with their eyes eaten and their throats torn out.**

**Taylor**** shivered at the thought.**

**Leon**** had said something about the S.T.A.R.S. being called in to investigate the killings. It was why Chris and Jill and the rest were working over time so much lately.**

**She stepped up to the bar and Phil said, "I think we're gonna close early tonight. This is just a little too close for comfort."**

**Taylor nodded and smiled at Will, one of the late shift waiters. He was fresh faced, on break from college looking to pick up some extra money to cover living expenses, and, it seemed, nuts about Cindy.**

**Cindy waved from across the bar and Taylor waved back.**

**Admittedly, she'd noticed a change in Cindy lately. She wasn't so quick to leave with the first available man. She seemed almost…happy.**

**Taylor**** wondered if it was because of Kevin. Although, as happy as she was with Leon, she wasn't quite up to asking.**

**There was a woman sitting at a table near the bar, scribbling furiously in a notebook. Taylor recognized her as a local newspaper reporter: Alyssa Ashcroft. She'd interviewed Taylor after the rape last winter. She was cunning and quick and surprisingly kind when she wanted to be.**

**Taylor**** slipped into her smock and started making her rounds.**

**No matter what was going on in the city, she had a job to do. **

**…..**

**She knew the minute he walked in. She was just picking up a round of empty bottles off of Jim and Mark's table, chatting with Bob who looked seriously ill. **

**Kevin strolled to the bar and ordered a shot of tequila.**

**She thought, well this is it, and told Phil she was taking her break early.**

**She'd just hung up her smock and started to approach him, to ask him to come up to the staff room to talk with her when he cell phone rang.**

**Surprised, she pulled it out and looked at the caller I.D.**

**It was Chris.**

**"Chris?"**

**He sounded far away and his voice was more afraid then she was comfortable with.**

**"Taylor?"**

**There was a high sound in the background, the rapid whoosh of what she wanted to call helicopter blades.**

**"Chris? Where are you?"**

**"Over Raccoon Forest.**** Taylor there was a problem. Bravo team was sent in to investigate the forest, we'd got a tip about some kind of trouble around the old mansion out here. Bravo went down, there was communication trouble. We think they crashed." It was hard to hear him, Taylor put a hand to her ear and strained to listen. "We're getting close to the site now. Listen, I need you to call Claire for me."**

**Taylor**** was surprised. "Chris? Why?"**

**"I don't know what's going on out here but it's not good. Tell Claire not to worry about me, okay? Tell her I love her."**

**"Chris? What are you talking about?"**

**She could hear Jill yelling in the background. Chris said, "Oh my god…"**

**Panicked, Taylor said, "Chris?! Can you hear me?"**

**There was some kind of sound. It sounded suspiciously like a howl. There wasn't any wolves in Raccoon Forest. How close were they to the Arklay Mountains?**

**"Chris!"**

**She heard him cry out and the phone went dead. **

**Terrified, she started yelling. As if he could still hear her, as if it mattered. "Chris! CHRIS!"**

**Most of the bar had gotten quiet. She looked up, terrified.**

**Kevin was the first to reach her. "What? Taylor what's going on?"**

**"It was Chris, something happened at in the forest…"**

**She briefly heard Will say, "What a weird costumer…"**

**Kevin took her face in his hands, "Taylor what?**** What's going on?"**

**She gripped his wrists, opened her mouth-**

**Cindy screamed and bobbled her tray. There was the sound of breaking glass as a rat scurried by. **

**Mark yelled, "Bob!" As the old man crumpled sideways and fell to the floor.**

**Jim was screaming. "KEVIN! KEVIN! Oh my god!"**

**Will was struggling with a customer. **

**Taylor**** had a moment to be surprised before Will was screaming and shoving. She watched blood fly and speckle the floor around him.**

**Kevin released her and pulled his side arm, a Colt .45. He aimed it at the moaning customer. "Freeze R.P.D.!"**

**But Will wasn't finished, he kept shoving until the man was outside the door and then he slammed it closed and threw the dead bolt.**

**Horrified, Taylor watched his neck gush blood. It was bad, soaking the front of his uniform almost instantly. **

**Will stumbled, trying to stop the bleeding and collapsed to the floor.**

**Taylor started to rush toward him, knowing instantly that he'd been attacked by one of the cannibal killers. But Kevin grabbed her arm. **

**She looked at his face, opened her mouth to say Will needed an ambulance, and Jim started screaming.**

**"Holy shit!"******

**There was a man on the other side of the window leading into the bar. He was running a face that looked like a mangled pizza over the shiny glass, leaving bits of flesh and trails of blood behind.**

**Taylor**** heard someone screaming and Kevin was yelling, "Somebody help me!"**

**He was shoving one of the giant barrels that served as window tables toward the main door. Taylor realized it was actually genius of him considering in another minute, cannibals were going to be beating the flimsy wood down.**

**Without a word, she watched the plumber, David King, come running from the kitchen area. He didn't say a word, just started shoving a second barrel as Kevin moved the first.**

**Jim, not the bravest soul, was still being surprisingly helpful. He was pulling the injured Will back and laying him behind the bar.**

**Taylor**** watched at least ten more faces move up and starting pressing against the glass. The cannibals were trying to beat through the windows and didn't seem to care that they were bloodying their selves in the process.**

**Their numbers were growing. Ten became fifteen, became twenty.**

**Jim yelled, "Oh my god! Mr. Clark!"**

**And Alyssa was crying out, "John Stevens?!"**

**People started yelling for Kevin and David to unblock the door.**

**Taylor**** knew what she was looking at. And it wasn't their friends or lovers beating on the windows. It was something else, something hungry. And whatever had happened to them, it was contagious.**

**Phil was crying and holding his hand. It looked like a nasty rat bite.**

**He wrapped a dish towel around it, cursing.**

**There was a loud yelp in the bathroom and a clatter before a small asian girl scurried out, holding a scrub brush like a weapon. **

**She said, "There's someone trying to crawl in through the vent in the bathroom." She sounded calm, which was amazing.**

**Mark was shouldering up Bob and Taylor ran around the bar and popped open the cash register. She grabbed the key to the staff room as Cindy grabbed the first aid kit that was stuffed on a bottom shelf.**

**Whatever was happening out there she knew they couldn't hide in here forever. Eventually the barrels would give and the windows would crash in. **

**There were at least fifty cannibals gathered outside the bar.**

**She tossed the key to Alyssa and said, "People listen. We have to get to the roof, it's the only way. We can make the jump to the building across the street and go out the back way toward the Apple Inn."**

**Mark helped Bob as Alyssa unlocked the door. She was the first one through and everyone seemed to understand that it was seriously important that they move as quickly as possible.**

**The back stairway was narrow and Taylor waited while the Asian girl, Cindy, a nerdy looking man with what looked like a leather doctor's case, Phil and Jim ran through. **

**Mark and David put Bob between them to move faster and Kevin kept his .45 trained on the windows as he gestured for Taylor to go. **

**She went and let him do his job. **

**He backed in after her and helped her push the statue at the base of the stairs forward until it blocked the door behind them. **

**She didn't like leaving Will behind but the man was dead or dying, his jugular completely severed. The cannibal had bitten right through.**

**She figured they could all ask for atonement later.**

**Taylor**** hurried up the stairs with Kevin close behind her. At the landing where the stairs curved, Jim was screaming.**

**One of the cannibals had busted through the glass of the window and was trying to yank him out through the jagged hole. **

**Cindy was yelling and pulling on Jim's shirt, trying to hold him still and pull him back.**

**Kevin stopped and went still, aiming over Taylor's shoulder but it was a bad angle and a tight shot. He'd be lucky not to hit Jim in the struggle.**

**Surprisingly, David saved the day.**

**He pulled a wrench out of the tool belt slung at his hip and hit the cannibal in the back of the head. It screamed and released Jim, reaching for David.**

**Kevin moved quickly and kicked, hitting the ugly monster in the chest with a solid roundhouse. It flailed it's arms and fell outward, screaming pitifully as it tumbled down into it's wailing brothers.**

**Jim grappled on Kevin's shoulders, sputtering. "Oh god thank you. The smell…it smelled…like…"**

**David's voice, gruff and deep, "Death."******

**Jim nodded, rapidly.**

**There was a crash from the front of the bar. They'd broken through the barricade.**

**Kevin started pushing. "Go! Go now!"**

**Taylor rushed up the stairs between David and Kevin, feeling her heart rate increase, fast and furious. **

**At the top of the stairs, her cell phone started to ring.**

**She fumbled it out of her pocket and made a dash for the hallway to the break room. **

**Cindy was standing there waiting. **

**There were boards scattered around the floor by the door. Phil had been in the process of building a bookcase for the employees to store break time reading material.**

**She said, "Somebody help me."**

**And David stopped to hold the boards over the entrance to the hallway. **

**There was the loud sound of nail gun firing as Taylor flipped open her phone.**

**"Hello!"**

**"Taylor!"**

**"LEON!" She stumbled back against the wall as Jim rushed into Phil's office with Phil, looking for anything useful. The little Asian girl was entering the drawing room with Alyssa. There was a shot gun in the drawing room. Phil had it locked up in a cabinet in there. Unfortunately, the key was downstairs, taped under the counter. She hoped they knew how to break it open.**

**The nerdy doctor guy was sitting on the floor, digging through his leather case. He pulled out a scalpel and a bottle of some white liquid.**

**Taylor**** could hear the sound of tires squealing, the rapid purr of an engine.**

**"Leon oh my god!"******

**"Taylor listen to me, I'm okay. I'm with Claire Redfield, Chris's sister. She came into town to see Chris."**

**"Leon what's going on?"**

**"I don't know." And he sounded as scared as she felt. "Everyone's gone crazy. The people are trying to eat each other. Others are rioting in the streets. There's some kind of blockade at the mountains. They're not letting anyone in or out of the city."**

**Taylor**** felt the blood drain out of her face. They were in a lock down. What had happened? What was happening everywhere?**

**"Taylor are you alright? Where are you?"**

**"I'm at the bar. In the staff room. We're going to try to get to the roof, get to the building next door and get out to the alley behind the bar."**

**She could hear Claire talking to Leon, quietly.**

**She said, "Leon, I'm scared…"**

**"Taylor listen. Get to the police station. I'm taking Claire there now. I'll meet you there. There's enough weapons to stand off against…whatever's out there. Get to the station okay?"**

**It was a good idea. Get to the police station. Right.**

**She said, "I've got some people with me. About..uh..nine I think."**

**"Good. Great. I don't want you to be alone out there. Who's with you?"**

**"Kevin is here and-"**

**"Kevin, perfect.**** He'll be able to get to the police station no problem." She could hear the hesitance in his voice, the fear. "Be careful, baby. Okay? I was so afraid for you."**

**"Leon, I'll see you soon."**

**"I love you Taylor."**

**"I love you too." She gripped the phone, knowing she had to let him go, that he had to protect Claire but…Claire! She was supposed to tell her about Chris!**

**"Leon! Chris called me. He told me to tell Claire-" She broke off at a girl's scream from the other side of the phone. **

**She heard the squeal of tires, heard Leon yell and drop the phone. There was a clunk and Taylor realized she was screaming his name a second before she heard an explosion and the phone went dead.**

**In horror, she stared out the phone. What had happened? What had happened to Leon?**

**Kevin took the phone from her gently and brought her attention to his face. He said, quietly, "We have to go. He's fine. He's a survivor."**

**Taylor**** drew strength from that statement. Kevin was right, Leon was a survivor. He was alive. He had to be. And she had promised to meet him.**

**She gripped Kevin's hand and nodded. "Okay. Let's get out of here."**

**Cindy was unlocking the door to the stair way to the roof.**

**Jim was carrying what looked like a small handgun and Phil was brandishing a broom. He looked seriously ill, pale and trembling. The bite on his hand had bled through the towel wrapped around it.**

**Mark said, "Taylor take my gun."**

**She did what he asked as he helped Bob back up and carried most of the older man's weight.**

**The gun was loaded and she clicked off the safety. It was maybe the third time in her life she'd held a real gun. But the feel of it, cool and heavy, made her feel just a little safer.**

**The side of the barrel read Beretta.**

**The Asian girl and Alyssa emerged from the drawing room. Alyssa held Phil's shotgun and the girl was packing extra cartridges into her backpack.**

**Cindy waved her arm. "Come on, let's go!"**

**The nerdy doctor was wielding the scalpel. David had a small folding knife that he'd pulled out of his tool belt. Kevin was holding his .45. As far as weapons went, it wasn't too bad.**

**Kevin went through the door first with Mark and Bob following. **

**Taylor**** waited until everyone was through before she followed. There was nothing to put in front of the door this time so she hurried to stay close to everyone else.**

**Down in the staff room, she could hear the high moaning of the cannibals as they beat on the make shift barricade between them and their prey.**

**There was a loud snap as one of the boards broke free and she slammed the large door at the top of stairs behind her. They were in the liquor room, where Phil stocked all the alcohol for the bar. From here it was a brief run up another flight of stairs to the roof.**

**David was dragging a box toward the door. It was a case of liquor and the nerdy doctor moved to help him, pushing while David pulled.**

**From the front of the liquor room, Taylor heard Cindy scream. **

**"The shutters down! The fucking shutter is down!"**

**That wasn't good. The button for the shutter was down in the owner's room, inside Phil's desk drawer, and the cannibals had started breaking through the boards.**

**Taylor**** could hear their moaning on the stairs outside the liquor room. **

**Phil was leaning on the wall, panting. He said, softly, "Taylor…the forklift key. The key."**

**She jumped and realized he was right.**

**At the far side of the room, a forklift sat dormant frozen in mid lift with a shipment. If they got the key and started the lift, they could climb up onto the boxes and crawl through the open vent leading to the stairs. **

**It was the best plan they had so Taylor said, "Guard the door. I'll be right back."**

**She ran into the door opposite the one leading the stairwell.**

**It was little more then a cram space with coolers. She started digging through boxes and shoving over bottles in her search for the key.**

**Phil usually kept it somewhere close when the workers came to restock.**

**She found it sitting on the table at the far side of the room and snatched it up, already running.**

**David was leaning against the boxes and the nerdy doctor was sitting on the floor with his back against them. The door beyond them was shaking as the cannibals banged incessantly, trying to get in.**

**Taylor ran past them and saw that Bob was in pretty bad shape, he was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. She didn't think he could make the climb to the top of the storage wall.**

**Phil stumbled a little and smashed into the wall. Liquor bottles fell, making a very loud crash as the smashed into tiny shards on the hard floor. **

**Cindy yelped and Jim started mumbling. Taylor thought he said something about his life being shit but she was already putting the key into the lift and pressing the button.**

**The hum of the forklift moving was loud in the quiet room. Loud enough it almost drowned out the desperate moans of the cannibal's just outside.**

**Mark was lifting Bob and the nerdy doctor was helping Phil. **

**Taylor**** said, "I'm going to go through and open the shutter from the other side."**

**David yelled, "Hurry this won't hold much longer. There's got to be at least a dozen of them beating against this door." Kevin had taken the nerdy doctor's place against the boxes.**

**Taylor**** hurried.**

**She scrambled up the ladder with Cindy close behind her. **

**Taylor**** said, "Cindy wait!"**

**But Cindy was already fox crawling after her. "No way! If there's something on the other side of the shutter, you're dead. I can't let you go alone."**

**She had a good point.**

**Taylor shifted herself and lowered backward through the open vent, easing herself down until her feet touched.**

**It was cooler on this side; there was a suggestion of night air from the open roof just beyond the door at the top of the stairs. The area was grey and dull and wonderfully empty.**

**Taylor**** scurried down to open the shutter as Cindy came through the vent and found her footing.**

**It whined on badly oiled hinges as it rolled upward. When it was halfway open, Jim crab walked through with the nerdy doctor and Phil close behind.**

**There was a loud crash somewhere inside the liquor room and the low boom of Kevin's .45, the deeper, harder shot of the shotgun following it closely. Alyssa had taken up guarding the door with Kevin and David.**

**The little Asian girl hurried through and helped Mark shoulder up Bob as they passed through the shutter. **

**Taylor**** yelled, "Up the stairs, out the door! It's the roof! Hurry! Go!"**

**No one argued and they followed Cindy, letting her show them the door. **

**Taylor**** waited tensely until she saw Alyssa and David come around the corner of the room and mount the stairs to the shutter. **

**"Where's Kevin?"**

**Alyssa said, "He was right behind us."**

**Taylor**** nodded. "Go!" And she ran back into the liquor room, holding the Beretta tightly in her sweating palms.**

**Kevin was backing down the walkway toward the stairs to the shutter, firing rapidly, reloading and firing again. **

**He yelled, "I'll hold them here! Go on!"**

**Taylor shook her head, "Kevin let's go! The roof is right outside. All we have to do is jump to the next building!"**

**She froze as she saw the cannibals stumbling drunkenly toward Kevin, tripping stupidly over their fallen friends. **

**His aim hadn't failed him under panic. Most of them had been dispatched with a neat shot to the forehead or through the eye. **

**He'd taken out eight maybe nine of them and from the ruin of bodies piled by the door, most of their chests a bloody stain on the wall behind them, she figured Alyssa had taken out a few more with the shotgun.**

**Kevin took out the closest one to them and it fell, causing three more that shambled close beside it to lose their footing and collapse. It was a heap of cannibals now and an effective barrier to the rest that stumbled and wailed behind them.**

**Liquor fell off shelves, smashing and startling the stupid creatures. Who tried to climb over their struggling comrades.**

**Taylor**** grabbed Kevin's arm and they turned and ran. Taylor paused long enough to press the button and close the shutter behind them and then they were sprinting up the stairway and smashing through the door to the roof.**

**She heard the crying before she focused on where it was coming from. **

**Mark was holding Bob and sobbing.**

**There was a large splash of blood on the wall behind them. For a moment, she thought they'd been attacked but there was too much blood and too little on Bob for that. **

**It didn't take her long to realize what had happened. Bob had shot himself.**

**The grief tried to well up, tried to grab her by the throat and she fought it back, desperately. There wasn't time to mourn, wasn't even time to think about mourning.**

** Kevin was touching Mark's shoulder, trying to get him to stand. **

**David had bent down to scoop up Bob's still smoking side arm. Waste not, want not.**

**It was cold and heartless but it was also practical. They needed the weapon, Bob no longer did.**

**Mark seemed to get himself together. He said, "Goodbye old friend. I won't forget you."**

**Alyssa was yelling from somewhere up ahead. "Help!"**

**They started running again. No time to despair.**

**The Asian girl was swinging her arms desperately at the crows that seemed to have gone crazy. They were dive bombing, pecking and squawking madly.**

**Taylor**** lifted the gun at one that was currently trying to yank the Asian girl's hair out of her head. Trusting in the weapon, she fired. **

**The crow squawked madly and fell, hitting the ground with a thump and a rapid flutter of wings before it went still.**

**The nerdy doctor had found a pipe somewhere and was swinging it like a baseball bat, smacking the crazy birds out of the sky.**

**Kevin and David were kicking at the gate that hung loosely to the walk way on the roof. They needed to get passed the gate and make a run for the other rooftop.**

**It was about a four foot jump to the opposing roof top but it was possible to make.**

**The gate came crashing down and David leapt up, helping Cindy up after him. Jim was quick to follow with Mark on his heels. **

**The nerdy doctor smashed the remaining crow out of the sky and leapt up after them with Alyssa and the Asian girl in hot pursuit.**

**Kevin was helping Taylor up when they heard it: a moan, so close, too close.**

**Taylor**** scrambled the rest of the way up and looked for Phil. **

**He was shambling toward them, slowly. Moving like…like one of the cannibals. **

**In horror, Taylor yelled, "Phil!"**

**But his eyes were glazed over, like fish eyes, and he was keening highly in his throat. It was a hungry sound. An unmistakable sound.**

**Kevin yelled, "Go!" **

**And the rest of the group starting running for the opposite side of the roof.******

**He grabbed Taylor's arm and she hesitated, yanking against him. **

**"Taylor he's gone! We gotta go!"**

**She stared at Phil, at his familiar face, so sweet, so chubby. She couldn't leave him, not like this.**

**She said, "Wait please." And it sounded calm.**

**She lifted the gun, aimed at Phil's head, said, "I'm sorry Phil. I'm so sorry." And fired.**

**Brains and blood splattered the wall behind Phil and he went down, crashing loudly against the roof top.**

**She couldn't help him but she could give him peace.**

**Kevin took her arm, gently this time. "Taylor…"**

**"Let's go." She rushed past him, hurrying to where the other's were waiting. **

**She was terrified, her heart beating a hundred miles an hour. She wanted Leon and he was somewhere out there, alive or dead. She had to find him.**

**The door to the roof banged open and the cannibal wails chased them across the roof. They only had once chance, they had to make that jump**


	7. Seven: A desperate chase

**This one is kind of short but fun. It's been great to write and after this chapter, things are going to turn around and lead away from the angle of the game. It's going to get fun. I'm excited just thinking about it. Mwahahha.**

**Enjoy.**

**SEVEN- A desperate chase…**

**Leon**** had lost sight of Claire after the crash. After their desperate dives out opposite sides of the squad car, he'd lost her. **

**He'd heard her yelling for him, told her to get to the station. It was the best he could do, under the circumstances, even if it did make him feel like shit to leave her.**

**So he was alone and he'd lost his cell phone inside the car which was now burning. So he had no way to get in touch with Taylor.**

**His only chance was to get to the station and pray that someone was left alive there. **

**He hurried down the alley way, listening to the rioting in the city, to the screaming and the horrible cries of the monsters. He couldn't help anybody. **

**With his Desert Eagle half empty and only one extra clip on his belt, he was limited to what he could do. **

**He needed to get to the station. He needed to get Taylor. He needed to meet up with Claire, see if her brother was still alive maybe waiting at the station for them.**

**He hurried down the alley and prayed he wasn't too late.**

**……**

**Taylor watched the Asian girl make a desperate leap and fall, grasping desperately at the edge of the opposite building with one hand. She yelled and David was there helping her up.**

**It had been easy for him to make the leap. He was lithe and quick on his feet. **

**Alyssa tossed the shot gun to the waiting girl and leapt after her, grasping easily and pulling herself up. Jim went next, jumping and having David grab his arms when he just missed. **

**Mark, bigger and heavier, needed David and Jim to help him when he didn't make it.**

** The nerdy doctor made the leap without much effort and landed just on the other side on his knees. He scrambled up as Taylor stepped forward to jump.**

**Cindy was shouting for her to hurry.**

**In the alley below them, cannibals moaned and shoved around each other, waiting for someone to fall, waiting to eat them alive.**

**Taylor**** shook off the fear, slipped the Beretta into her smock, and leapt.**

**David grabbed her, pulling her up just as Taylor thought it was over and she was going to fall. **

**She clung to him for just a moment before letting him go.**

**She handed the Beretta back to Mark just as Kevin jumped and fell into a shoulder roll as he landed, coming up on his feet. **

**They all stood for a moment, staring at the roof top of the bar where the cannibals were all shambling around, apparently too dumb to make the climb up to the walk way toward them.**

**Jim was the first to speak. "Come on my crew!" **

**He sprinted toward the doorway that would take them into the building.**

**Somewhere down below a voice came over a megaphone. **

**"This is the Raccoon City Police Department. If anyone's alive come to the Apple Inn for an evacuation."**

**It sounded like a plan.**

**They shoved through the door and left the police man's voice behind. **

**Inside Jim was already stabbing at the elevator pad and pretty much dancing as they waited.**

**Taylor**** wasn't going to be evacuated, she was going to Leon. He was at the station. Her mind refused to accept that he might be dead.**

**The elevator pinged and the doors slid open. **

**They all piled in and David hit the button for the bottom floor.**

**They all stood as it lowered, impossibly quiet, impossibly loud.**

**David was doing something with his tool belt, taking a piece of Phil's broken broom and his knife. Taylor watched with raised brows as he made a make shift spear out of them, wrapping the knife around the wood with duct tape.**

**She had a moment to think he was awfully handy before the doors opened.**

**Three cannibals turned and started for them, keening loudly with their arms out like they were stumbling through a dark room.**

**Alyssa said, "Move!"**

**And the Asian girl ducked, along with Cindy and Taylor. **

**Alyssa opened fire on the three cannibals, who had gathered closely together to shamble down the narrow hallway to the elevator.**

**They wailed and fell as the buckshot tore through their chests, tore away pieces of their stomachs. Blood splashed like paint on the window behind them.**

**They all started running before the last body fell, leaping and moving as quickly as possible over the corpses.**

**The nerdy doctor was the first to reach the door and he shoved it open as a window crashed open with a tinkle of breaking glass and a cannibal dove through, clawing along the ground toward them.**

**Taylor**** kept running as a flash lit the air around her and was followed by the boom of Kevin's .45.**

**She barreled through the door way and stumbled a little on the steps as she rushed down to street below.**

**The air outside stank like burning hair, like rotten milk. She started to gag when she saw a man standing there, shooting continuously. **

**He wore a uniform, he was a cop. He saw them all huddled on the stoop and yelled, "Ryman! Good! We need all the help we can get!"**

**He reloaded as he spoke.**

**Taylor**** turned her eyes to the carnage in front of them. Three cannibals had downed a man and were feasting on him while he screamed and blood sprayed in a fine mist.**

**At least fifty more were coming, shambling down the street about a hundred yards away. **

**The man yelled, "Push those cars and make a barricade! Do it now!"**

**Taylor**** started running with David and Mark close beside her. They ran in between a sideways police unit toward the one waiting farther up. **

**While Taylor and David pushed, Mark randomly picked off cannibals that got too close. She put her back into it, shoving hard and fast.**

**There was a crunch as on car hit another, effectively blocking the on coming cannibals.**

**They turned and sprinted back toward the way they'd come. **

**Taylor saw that the Asian girl, the nerdy doctor, and Jim had already pushed another car in place, making a second barricade.**

**David, Mark, and Taylor climbed over the hood of one of the blocking cars and ran after the retreating police officer and the rest of their group.**

**They ran left through a wooden gateway, a go between that would take them out to the road and the reservoir.**

**The cop waved them through and slammed the wooden door behind, doing up the chain and locking it quickly.**

**"They're getting closer! We gotta go now!" **

**He turned and backed up slowly, firing as the cannibals crawled under the doorway, through the vents in the walls beside the door. **

**He had a shot gun like Alyssa. **

**Jim yelled, "Oh my god it's blocked!"**

**Taylor**** turned and looked. The road ahead was blocked completely by a jackknifed sixteen wheeler that slowly leaked gasoline onto the concrete beneath it. **

**A gas tanker.**** A gas…tanker.**

**Her mind raced, thinking, desperately.**

**The cop was screaming. **

**The cannibals had him by the ankles, one had him pinned on the ground and was chewing into his arm. **

**Kevin and Mark and anyone else with a gun was firing, reloading, firing, desperately trying to hold the horde at bay. But it was a losing battle. They just kept coming.**

**The Asian girl was swinging her back pack like a weapon.**

**David was stabbing at them with his make shift spear. **

**The dying man on the ground screamed, "Hurry! Leak the gas and burn these bastards!"**

**A lighter skipped across the ground from his fingers and he screamed once more as a cannibal bit into his shoulder. **

**Taylor started to run to him, to help somehow but he was already dead, his eyes empty and dull in the bloody mask of his face.**

**She snatched up the lighter and started running as she yelled.**

**"I'm going to leak the gas! Everyone get in the water! Hurry!"**

**But the nerdy doctor had already turned the handles on the tanker and Taylor watched the thick liquid gush forward, spilling all across the ground in a river. It slid over the cannibals, over the dead man. **

**She skidded to a halt, watched the Asian girl and David dive into the water of the reservoir. The rest were quick to follow, only Kevin staying long enough to snatch up the dead man's shot gun. **

**Taylor**** looked at the shambling horde and tossed the lighter even as she dove sideways into the water.**

**She went under; water going into her nose, as there was a strange deafness that comes just before giant explosion. **

**She kept her head under as debris rained down atop the water, churning it, singing her hair. She came up to the sound of dying cannibals, looked up and managed to catch a glimpse of one burning, burning as it stumbled, burning as it fell.**

**The fire was out of control, they had to get out before it erupted and took them all with it.**

**Kevin was yelling, his voice quiet over the loud crackle of the fire above them.**

**He was gesturing to one of the open archways into the sewer. It was their only chance.**

**Taylor swam for the archway, lifted herself up and raced through. **

**There was a sound that was vaguely cartoon like, almost a whomp of pressure, and she went to her knees and rolled the rest of the way as the force of the tanker exploding sent a massive gust of air through the tunnel.**

**She came out skidding and hit the ground hard on her butt, wincing at the pain that spread up her spine.**

**They were all there, some on the ground, rubbing sore body parts, others standing, keeping guard.**

**She noticed the horrible smell right before Alyssa said, "It smells like an old man's ass down here."**

**Someone laughed. **

**"It's the sewers." Kevin was already walking. "It'll take us right out in front of the Apple Inn."**

**Jim was limping a little. "Jesus, anyone got any weed? I wouldn't say no to a blunt or two right now."**

**Mark was silent, plodding along behind them.**

**Taylor moved along, rubbing her spine. "I'm not going to the Inn. Leon's at the station. I have to get to the station."**

**Kevin stopped, looked at her for a long moment. "Listen, let's go up there. See what's going on. If it looks bad, we can get them to drop us at the station."**

**Jim said, tiredly, "Fuck that. I'm getting out of this city."**

**Taylor**** was shaking her head. "Leon said there's blocks up everywhere. They aren't letting anyone in or out."**

**Alyssa cursed. "What's going on out there?"**

**Cindy had started shaking and Mark put his arm around her.**

**"I don't know." Taylor brushed wet hair out of her eyes, "But I'm not going anywhere without Leon."**

**Kevin stared at her for a moment longer and nodded. "Okay. So we get up there, we find a car and get to the station. If we can't leave the city, we can at least wait for help there."**

**Taylor**** nodded, grateful. "Okay. Thank you."**

**They all started walking, each other them keeping their peace for a long while.**

**After ten minutes of walking, Alyssa spoke, "Does anyone have a phone? I need to call and see if there's anyone alive at the paper. If anyone knows what's going on out there, journalists do."**

**Taylor said quietly, "You can try mine. Though I think it's ruined from the water." She handed it over.**

**The Asian girl and the nerdy doctor were talking quietly up ahead.**

**Taylor**** said quietly, "What's your names? We've been through all this so far and I don't even know your names."**

**"I'm Yoko." Said the Asian girl with a smile, "And you saved me from that bird. Thank you."**

**"No problem."**

**"I'm George." The doctor shook her hand, gently, "And it figures that the one night I decide to have a beer after a bad day, something like this happens."**

**Cindy was plodding along beside them. "Well don't worry George. It's a first for the rest of us too."**

**They talked a little more as they walked. Mostly about stupid stuff, inconsequential things. But really it was just anything to keep the silence at bay.**

**It was a short climb up the ladder and onto the street.**

**Surprisingly, it was quiet. Taylor couldn't hear the moaning or the screaming or smell the death that had become second nature since less then an hour before.**

**Alyssa handed the phone back. "It works but no one answered. Probably all dead." Taylor could hear the pain in that statement. "Let's get this bitch on a roll."**

**She strutted off and Taylor sighed, staring at the phone. _Leon__ where are you? I hope you're okay._**

**She hurried along after the rest of the group, praying with all her might that he'd be at the station, and waiting.**


	8. Eight: Into the madness

****

EIGHT- Into the madness

The truck didn't get far before they hit the blocks around the city.

Car crashes and burning buildings and piles of bodies became usual scenery. No one in the back of the truck spoke much when it finally came to a final halt or when the man opened the doors and said, "You'll have to walk from here."

The group emerged onto the street and tried to get their bearings.

Taylor thought they weren't too far from the station. It was just around the next street corner.

She said, "If we head that way we can get to the station."

Kevin was already nodding, digging through the truck with Mark and Alyssa and David, looking for extra weapons.

"We could run up and across the footbridge to get to Main Street but it's probably a mad house over there. If we stick to the alleys, they'll take us right out beside the station."

Taylor nodded and accepted the gun he handed her. It looked like Mark's gun so she figured it was another Beretta.

Yoko was holding a slim barreled gun that looked like a revolver.

George had been given another shot gun and was loading it while he waited.

Jim was stuffing clips for his hand gun into his jean pockets and the pockets on his work uniform.

David had found a slim black duffel bag and was loading it with extra ammunition and anything else he could find.

Kevin was putting extra rounds into Yoko's backpack and into the pockets of his uniform.

Taylor took her queue from them and started stuffing clips into her smock as Cindy filled a fanny pack with bandages and other medicines.

They were all thinking pretty much the same thing. This might be the last chance they got to stock up.

When they all had a gun and were loaded down with anything that could handle, Kevin said, "This way."

And they all started walking again.

Taylor tried to assimilate what her life had become in the last hour. A nightmare, a mad dash for safety.

She was running on adrenaline and fear for herself, her new found friends, and Leon.

She wondered if it was just Raccoon or if everywhere was experiencing some kind of freak show. She wondered if her parents were safe.

She thought about calling them and decided against it. If they were safe, she didn't want them worrying about her. If they weren't…

She shook the thought away and kept walking. Now wasn't the time.

The alley opened into a street on the opposite side.

Kevin swept out first, scanning the area with his .45 raised and David echoed him, covering the other side as they moved toward the connecting alley.

With a raise of his hand, he signaled the others to follow and they did, quickly, all as fast as their feet would carry them.

The next alley would take them out right by the station. Just a quick run across the courtyard and they'd be there.

Taylor felt the adrenaline becoming hope and it scared her. She didn't want to believe too strongly that Leon was there.

They ran through the next alley way and emerged out into the courtyard of the R.P.D. station.

Something was burning not too far away. The sky was wavering with inky darkness.

Taylor could smell the stink of rotting meat and turned as a cannibal started toward her. It was wearing an R.P.D. uniform and moaning.

She had a moment to blink and it's disgusting hands were in her hair. She screamed and pulled back as Kevin fired.

She lifted the Beretta and fire point blank between its rotting teeth.

Blood splattered on her face and staggered, wiping quickly at her face, making sure to keep her eyes and mouth closed. She didn't want any of it noxious blood in her open cavities. If it was anything like A.I.D.S. it would spread through blood contact.

Kevin grabbed her; pulled her back into his arms.

"Are you alright?" He took her face and wiped at it with the sleeve of his uniform. "Taylor?"

"I'm fine. None in my eyes or mouth. I'm okay."

There was a trembling in his hands as he touched her. She felt it and looked at his face.

He'd been so brave. If she'd loved Leon a little less…

It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but getting to the station, getting to safety.

They started moving again.

There were loud booms from the far side of the courtyard as Alyssa and George took down three more shambling monstrosities.

They ran up a flight of stairs and were at the main doors of the station.

A burning squad car sat off to one side, a testament to how safe the station really was.

With little more then a glance at it, Taylor hurried to the front doors.

David and the rest were right behind her.

Inside the station there was a deafening silence, save for the soft rush of water from the giant fountain that sat before them.

David said, "Should we barricade the doors?"

Kevin was shaking his head. "No. If other people come, we have to let them in."

Taylor was already running through the lobby, shouting. "Leon! Leon are you here?"

"Is anyone hurt?" George was going between each person, checking them. "Any bites or claw marks?"

"Not yet." Jim had started to shake, just a little. "Listen, if any of those bastards bites me. I want someone to promise to put me out of misery."

David nodded. "Same goes."

Alyssa was at the desk atop the rise, checking the computer and the phones.

"Computers still online. Phones have stopped working. So calling for help is out."

Kevin mounted the stairs. "What about internet access?"

She shook her head. "No go. This is just the terminal for logging in guests, opening doors in the station. It's not internet ready."

She was tapping keys, her face thoughtful. "It's got a layout of the station though. Anyone good with maps?"

Yoko stepped up next to her. "Let me try." She tapped more keys. "We need a key card to gain access to the lower levels but it looks like…" She trailed off. "There's a subway under this station." She sounded surprised.

"What?" Mark was there, peering at the screen. "A subway? Under a police station?"

Yoko nodded. "Yeah looks like it. See here and here. Those are subway markers, tracks."

Jim whistled. "Fuck. These cops were prepared huh Kev?"

Kevin looked just as surprised as the rest of them. "I have no idea. We weren't allowed past the first basement level where the cells are. You had to have first level clearance to even get down there."

Jim shook his head. "Fucking suits. It looks like they were expecting something and had an escape route."

David added. "Yeah but only if you were some hot shit big up guy. The mayor…"

Alyssa perked up. "Chief Irons."

Kevin looked at her.

"He's the Chief of Police."

"I know who he is."

She looked at him for a long moment. "Listen, his office is in this building. He's got to have a card key for that subway thing. We find it, we got a one way ticket out of this place."

As far as plans went, it wasn't half bad.

Mark said, "Shouldn't we wait though? To see if other survivors show up?"

Jim leaned forward. "What about your wife dude? And your kids?"

"They went to San Jose for the weekend. To visit Dee's mother." He took a deep breath. "I never loved that woman as much I do right this minute."

Cindy said, "Taylor said Leon was supposed to be here. I think we should at least wait an hour, see if anyone shows up."

Kevin agreed. "Okay. Yoko where's Chief Irons office."

Yoko tapped keys. "Second floor, 3rd room on the right."

"Good. Alyssa, Yoko and David get to the office, search high and low, see if you can find anything."

They nodded.

He looked at the screen. "The access to the subway system is through the basement."

Yoko said, "According to this, it's through a manhole in a cell at the back."

"Okay. I'll go check out the basement level, make sure it's clear."

Mark said, "I'll go with you."

Kevin nodded. "Jim, Cindy and George wait here to see if anyone shows up. If no one does, wait for Alyssa, Yoko and David to come back with the key." He looked at Taylor. "Come with us. According to this map, there's access to the sewers in the basement, it's possible Leon knew it and came that way."

Taylor nodded.

"Everyone meet here in an hour. Sixty minutes exactly. Who has a watch?"

George, Jim and Mark all had one.

"Ok George give yours to Alyssa."

He did.

"Great. Anyone have any questions?"

Yoko said, "We got a problem Kevin."

He turned, looked over her shoulder. "What's that?"

She glanced at his face. "Well…it looks like a bunch of gibberish…"

Jim read out loud, "Symbol keys…praying hands…red and blue…what the fuck?"

Alyssa said, "It's a puzzle…or more then one."

"Underground subway systems, puzzles. What kind of police station is this?" George sounded flabbergasted.

No one could blame him.

"One that fits right in with face eating zombies." Jim quipped and Taylor realized he was right. They weren't cannibals, they were zombies.

"Well that complicates things." Kevin stared at the screen. "Says we need red and blue jewels…which could be fucking anywhere…"

He looked supremely pissed.

"Alright," He said after a moment, "The plan doesn't change until we know what these puzzle things are. Anyone comes across something messed up, do your best to solve it."

Nods all around.

"Okay. One hour."

Taylor said, "Keep your eyes open for people hiding in here."

Jim added, "Yeah and zombies who want to eat your manly parts."

They parted ways, Cindy, Jim and George taking up a watch at the front, Alyssa, Yoko and David heading for the door at the base of the platform on the far left of the room.

Yoko turned the knob and said, "It's locked."

David lifted his gun to shoot it open when Alyssa said, "Wait a minute."

She stepped forward, pulled something slim and black out of her breast pocket and unrolled it.

David realized he was looking at a shiny set of lock picks.

Impressed, he watched the reporter go to work on the lock.

Across the hall, Kevin, Mark and Taylor hurried through the next doorway. It was a short hallway which curved sharply into stairs.

He took a deep breath and said, "Last one down is a rotten egg."

Taylor said, quietly, under her breath, "Or a dead man."


	9. Nine: Betrayal

****

Mwhahahhaha.

So I was thinking back on some of your words there Jello and it got me thinking. You're right. That does sound like Solid Snake. I laughed out loud when I read that. And wouldn't that be an interesting twist?

So heres where the story starts to take on some old RE story with a little new blood thrown in. It's gonna get dirty after this chapter. A little death, a little horror. But what would the RE world be without it?

At this point I'm on the edge of my own seat going :Oh my god! What's gonna happen? I can only hope you are too!

Without further rambling. Continue. Once again, don't freak at any inconsistencies. Remember, this is a what if story so the timeline is exactly the same.

NINE- Betrayal

Cindy and George sat next to each other on the floor, sharing a bag of peanuts. The nuts were stale but the conversation was good.

"So how long you been a doctor?"

George looked at her. She was pretty, soft blue eyes and blonde hair in a bouncy pony tail. Pretty girls didn't talk to him much unless he was diagnosing them with something and talking to them after surgery.

"Honestly I can't remember." He figured she was at least ten years younger then him maybe more. But her face was very open and it'd been a long time, at least since the divorce, that a woman had looked at him with such interest.

Cindy liked George. He was handsome, in an intellectual kind of way, and obviously very smart and he seemed to be enthralled with every word she spoke.

"Well it's gotta be better then being a waitress, right?" She smiled at him. "Dealing with drunks and frat boys."

"Well it's actually kind of the same. I deal with them too but I sew them up so they can go back to the bar and get hurt again."

Cindy smiled, took a peanut. She was trying to think of something clever to say when Jim yelled, "Hey guys! There's somebody trying to get in!"

They got to their feet quickly, the peanuts forgotten, and hurried to the window where Jim stood, looking out.

There was a man in the courtyard who looked both frightened and ill. He was limping across the grass toward the door. Cindy could just make out the S.T.A.R.S. badge on his chest when the man turned abruptly.

It was almost sound proof inside the station but she could hear him yelling. He started running, as best as he could, toward the doors.

She went to open the doors for him and Jim yelled, "Holy shit!"

She paused, went back to the window and screamed before she could stop herself.

Something was pursuing the man across the yard.

It was at least nine feet tall and looked like it was trying to be human except it's face was disgusting with exposed gums and sharp looking teeth in a grey face.

There were things poking out of it too, things that looked like snakes…no tentacles. It had tentacles that waved around it's body as it moved.

Cindy cried, "We have to help him!"

But George and Jim were shaking their heads.

"No way!" Jim was already moving. "We have to put something in front of this door. Right now!"

George and Jim started searching for something to block the door with. Cindy stood at the window, watching the man run.

She wanted to help, wanted to look away but she couldn't. It was like a car crash, you just kept staring.

It picked the man up by his head with one giant paw and shook him once, like a cat with a mouse.

Cindy started screaming when it raised him to eye level. She couldn't help it, she was afraid for the man, for herself.

It stuck one of the tentacles straight through the man's throat. His body jerked, shook, and went still.

It was over. The man was dead.

And the giant monster turned, seemed to be still for a moment, as if it were listening for something.

Cindy hunkered down, just barely looking over the edge of the window. She whispered, "Oh please go away. Don't come here."

It turned and she swore it looked right at her with it's ugly black little eyes.

Then it turned and walked away, as simply as that.

Cindy sank down, her back sliding against the wall. She put her face on her knees and started crying.

She felt George slip his arm around her and leaned against him.

Jim was at the window now, looking out.

"Jesus Christ, what was that thing?" He sounded terrified and Cindy didn't blame him. She was surprised she hadn't passed out from fear.

"I don't know." George sounded a little less frightened. "But it wasn't after us."

"Thank god." Cindy whispered and felt bad because she was relieved and the other man was dead.

Jim said, "I almost pissed myself." He sat down next to them, "We need to get the fuck out of this city. Like now."

George and Cindy agreed but they sat there and they waited, in fear.

….

Yoko searched through one of the drawers in Iron's office, desperately seeking the card key.

The room had been locked but not for long with Alyssa and David in tow. What she couldn't pick, he could just remove the knob with a little elbow grease and a screw driver.

They were a handy pair. Yoko felt a little inadequate with them.

Iron's office was a little freaky.

He was obviously into stuffing animals and hunting. An ugly mounted animal looked down at her while she searched, seemingly taunting her with failure.

There was dried blood on the floor by the desk. It was still red and mostly hadn't coagulated which meant it hadn't been dry for very long.

Alyssa was searching the bookcases, David along the walls, over the paintings, anywhere someone might hide something.

"There's got to be a secret safe in here or something." Alyssa said in exasperation. "The guy was loony. We all knew it. He'd relish the thought of hiding shit."

Yoko closed the drawer and felt around under it, searching for anything. A button, a lever, a trigger…

There was a loud grinding noise as her finger brushed over a button. Bingo.

Behind her the bookcase slid aside and a door looked back at them.

David patted her on the back. "Awesome."

He reached for the handle and the room started to shake. Yoko grabbed David for support as there was a loud explosion, the sound of metal tearing, of a wall caving in nearby.

Alyssa waited a long moment until the room was still again and the sound was reduced to a crackle of fire.

She opened the door back into the hallway slowly and grimaced as smoke billowed around her face. Coughing, she tried to see what had happened.

A helicopter had smashed into the hallway from the roof. The entire left side of the hallway was obliterated, a smoldering mass of stone and billowing metal.

She stared for a moment, thinking that a few feet over and they'd have been obliterated with it.

The pilot was dead, big time, his face a roasted, melting ruin.

She closed the door again and turned to Yoko and David.

"Helicopter. Pilots dead, walls gone." She wondered when things had failed to surprise her.

Yoko nodded, face blank and David mimicked her.

Alyssa figured they were all getting pretty jaded by this point.

"So we won't be going back that way. Anyway up to try this new doorway?"

David stepped forward and opened the door. "If I don't like it, can I pick another door?"

Alyssa smirked. "Sure, if I can pick another life."

….

Kevin pushed with Mark and the truck actually started to move.

It was blocking the door they needed to go through.

With a lot of grunting, a few curses, they got it to slide forward enough to reach the door. Some pour slob had obviously thought they were protecting themselves by closing the area off.

Unfortunately, it hadn't worked.

Kevin, sweating, said, "Okay through here is the cells. We should be able to get through into the sewer. According to Yoko, they will lead us to back to the street or down to this subway station."

They'd capped a few unfortunate zombies on their way to the basement. Putting a hole through his friends heads hadn't served to brighten Kevin's day any.

"Won't we need the card key?"

"I don't know but were going to find out."

He pushed open the door, sweeping wide with his gun but there was nothing on the other side of the door but the dank hallway that lead to the cells.

They moved slowly down the hallway until they heard someone yelling, loudly.

"Oh GOD! Get it off me! Please get it off me!"

They started running.

Terror beat like a second heart in Taylor's chest. It was Leon. It was Leon.

They came around a corner to find a man writhing on the floor of a locked cell, batting furiously at his chest and screaming.

Taylor rushed forward.

The man stopped writhing all of sudden and looked at her, very solidly.

"Umbrella knew. They knew. Tell everyone. Chief Irons knew. I needed proof. Stop them." He grabbed her hand through the bars and she let him. "Please tell everyone."

He gurgled once like he was using mouth wash. Taylor let go of his hand a moment before he screamed again and started vomiting blood.

Horrified, she stood, backed away.

Blood splattered around him and he clawed at himself, still screaming.

Kevin lifted the gun, ready to shoot him, put him out of his misery.

The man went still, impossibly still. His eyes were empty, dead.

The three of them stood around the cell a moment, staring, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Mark whispered, "Umbrella…"

Umbrella had built the city. They were the biggest contributors. It didn't make any sense.

But nothing made sense anymore.

The man's body jerked and Kevin's gun sounded instantly, a shot smacking into the man's stomach. It had been reflexive to fire, habit brought on by being startled.

But the man kept jerking, the body bouncing like it was conducting electricity and then something happened, something popped, bone breaking.

Something tore it's way free out of the man's chest.

Mark raised his gun in horror. Taylor was backed against the wall, too frozen with fear and surprise to raise hers.

It was little, no bigger then a kitten and an ugly, slimy pink. It looked like a mutant tad pole with beady little eyes and a mouth filled with dripping fangs. It hissed loudly at them and Kevin fired again with Mark echoing him.

But the thing was quick and slithered away, up the wall, out the window of the cell.

They stood for a moment after it was gone, staring, frozen.

Then Mark let out a breath and they all did.

Taylor was surprised to find her chest hurt from not breathing.

Kevin said, "What was he talking about?"

"I don't know." Taylor whispered, desperately afraid she did. "Something about Umbrella knowing and Chief Irons knowing."

"Umbrella," Mark was shaking his head. "Knowing what?"

"About what's happening around here maybe." Kevin moved to the opposite cell, knelt by the manhole. "It's just fucked up enough to make sense. They knew about the murders, about what was going on here. Now they're blocking us in while they have time to clean up the mess."

"You think they caused it?" Taylor sounded as horrified as she felt.

"Probably or they'd have jumped in here as fast as rabbits to save us all." He shook his head. "Mark, find a crow bar. I can't lift it up."

They took turns lifting, pushing and pulling until the rusty cover came off.

They slid it to one side and Kevin peered down into the dark.

"Well…here goes nothing." And he started to climb down the ladder.

There was a sound from the hallway, a door opening, closing.

He froze with one foot on the top rung.

Mark slid against the wall, gun raised. Taylor moved away from the man hole and backed farther down toward where the dead man lay.

There were foot steps coming toward them, slow and then faster, running.

Kevin lifted the .45 and waited.

A woman ran around the edge of the hallway and froze, a gun dangling from her left hand.

She was pretty, young, and Asian American. When she saw him, she looked at first surprised and then a little put out.

Kevin kept the gun on her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Ada. Ada Wong." She sounded scared but she didn't look it. Whatever she was selling, Kevin wasn't buying.

"What are you doing here?"

She put her weapon down, slowly. "I'm looking for my boyfriend."

Taylor wanted to see the woman but she was careful to stay back. As far as the woman knew, Kevin was alone.

"In the basement of the police station?" Kevin sounded skeptical.

"I'd heard there was a stand off down here. I thought he might have come here to hide."

That made sense, a little.

Ada said, quietly, "Listen I'm not alone…I've got a cop with me." She turned to look over her shoulder. "He was right behind me."

Taylor perked up at the sound of more foot steps. Mark still had the gun raised, ready to open fire.

"You know, you could slow down a little bit. It wouldn't kill you."

Leon.

Taylor came around the corner, startling the woman into raising her weapon, very fast.

Taylor ignored her and rushed past her.

Leon was brushing at something on his uniform.

He was dirty, his face fairly covered in filth, his hair a complete mess but he looked unharmed and perfect.

Taylor cried, "Leon!" And ran to him.

Leon had a moment to be startled before she threw herself at him and he caught her, holding her close.

"Taylor?"

She kissed his dirty face, his cheeks. "OH god I thought you were dead."

He grinned, white teeth startling in the filth. "I'm tougher then that."

She tried to get it together, pulled it all in. Now wasn't the time. "Where's Claire?"

Leon shook his head. "I lost her after the crash. I told her to come to the station. I was looking for her when I ran into Ada."

Ada was looking extremely pissed now. Kevin figured she had some agenda that was getting royally screwed by the emergence of all these people.

Taylor couldn't stop touching him. A hand on the arm, a hand on the stomach. "I heard the explosion…I thought-"

Leon smiled, ran a hand through her hair.

"Well," Kevin was trying to be patient and not angry. "Let's go check it out down here."

Leon nodded, took Taylor's hand. "Ada thought there might be a way out to the city down there. She figured some survivors might be hiding out."

Kevin looked at Leon, flicked his eyes to Ada. One thought slid through his mind: Bullshit.

Either Leon was slower then he'd figured or Ada was a better actor then she seemed.

One look at her face and Kevin knew that she didn't give two shits about any survivors.

But he slipped onto the ladder anyway. "I'll go first. Leon you go last."

"Sure."

Kevin grappled down, into the darkness and the stench.

The minute he stepped into water that stunk like three day old diapers, he knew they weren't alone.

Something was down here, waiting, watching.

There was a soft splash as Ada landed next to him.

Kevin whispered, "Don't move. Don't say a word."

He felt, more then saw, Mark freeze on the ladder.

There was a sound, something close to a shuffle. He'd heard it once, as a boy, but it had been faint and close to his ear while he slept.

Spiders.

From the rapidly increasing loudness of the shuffling, he knew they were bigger then the ones of his youth and hell of lot more dangerous.

It was luck more then instinct that had him grabbing Ada and pulling her with him off to one side.

She squeaked in surprise and he pulled her back against him, putting his back against the wall, one hand over her mouth to keep her silent.

There was a splash, quiet, soft. Mark? Or one of the spiders?

A loud rustling of water, steadily increasing. Something was coming.

There was a beam of light shining. Someone had a flash light.

Kevin caught a glimpse of a thousand shining eyes less then six feet from him and barely had time to lift his gun before it leapt.

For a moment, he was frozen in shock as it went up and up and up, at least ten feet above his head where it stuck to the ceiling like silly putty.

The light from Leon's flashlight was too thin, too small to do more then show a suggestion of legs, a rounded bubble of a belly covered with hair and all those horrible eyes.

Kevin shoved Ada, lightly. "Run!"

Footsteps splashed loudly as they run, unsure what they were running toward, convinced they wouldn't be able to climb back up in time.

Someone yelled, the flashlight swerved to see on a spider on top of Mark.

The darkness flashed bright as someone fired. Taylor? Ada? He couldn't tell.

The spider was making a high pitched sound.

Kevin moved through the nasty water that was at least waist deep. Too slow, too damn slow.

Leon was yelling now. "He's fine! Keep going!"

Someone was next to him. Kevin grabbed someone's arm and pulled them with him.

There was a rise up ahead, he could just make it out in the darkness. He jumped without thinking, running as fast as he could.

The person cried out as they hit the ground, already rolling.

Kevin did his best to protect the person in his arms as they rolled, hit a stairway and kept going.

At the bottom, his back sore, they rolled to stop.

He was on the bottom, someone cradled safely atop him.

Taylor's voice said in his ear, "Oh my god."

He held her like that, just a moment as the fear danced away.

Then she was climbing off him, helping him up.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh."

Feet were pounding down the stairs. Two sets? Three? He couldn't tell.

A minute later a flashlight beam came over the rise and started down the stairs, bobbling as Leon ran.

Mark panted, "Fuck! It almost got me. Thanks."

A cool female voice, Ada, said, "No problem."

The light floated over. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah."

Taylor's voice shook, just a little. "Let's get out of here."

There were on solid ground again but it was pitch dark and impossible to tell which way they needed to go.

Ada said, "Leon, give me the light."

Kevin stood while the light went away, far away down the corridor.

His hand was wrapped around his gun, his ears open. The spiders couldn't be that far away.

There was a loud buzzing, like the sound of a bug hitting a light, and then lights started to flicker on overhead.

Emergency lights, red and ominous.

The stairway was about six feet away. Kevin looked up and realized they'd rolled down at least thirty stairs.

Lucky neither one of them had any broken bones.

Ada was at the far end of the corridor standing by what looked like a fusebox.

How'd she known there would be circuit breaker there?

It didn't matter but it pretty much confirmed Kevin's suspicions. She knew more then she was letting on.

They started toward her and she gave Leon his pen light back.

"We're in the sewer," She said quietly, "I got a look at the map on terminal upstairs when I got here earlier. This will lead us to the subway."

So she knew about the subway. What else did she know?

Kevin shook his head and glanced at Mark.

He looked frightened but unharmed.

"Did something bite you?"

Mark was shaking his head. "No thank god. Ada started shooting it almost the minute it jumped me."

Kevin looked at Ada. "You're good with a gun."

She met his gaze, squarely. "Well, I'm good with a lot of things."

Leon and Taylor were standing at the entrance to a hallway.

Kevin didn't miss the way they stood extremely close to each other, not touching exactly but not hiding the fact that they wanted to.

He didn't want to be jealous. Not now, when it mattered the least it could ever matter. But he was human and he loved her.

He shook it off and started forward. "Okay. So we go this way and then what?"

Ada sighed. "From what I can tell, we follow this hallway and it should take us right to the subway."

And the lab. Though she didn't mention that.

She didn't think these people knew anything about the lab. Better to keep it that way. She could ditch them when the time was right.

Taylor said, "We might need a card key to get in."

Kevin was nodding. "Yeah. Mark what time is it?"

"Almost ten."

"We gotta get back. See if anyone is waiting for us."

Ada thought, well this is perfect. "Listen, some of us should go on, check things out."

Leon was looking at her. "You're kidding right? You want to split up down here?"

"It's no big deal. According to the map this hall is a straight shot. Go back, get the others and come back down here. By the time you get back, we'll either be waiting in the subway or outside it."

Kevin studied her, trying to figure out her game. Was she trying to go on and abandoned them all?

But what could they do? They couldn't make her come with them and they couldn't leave everyone else upstairs.

Taylor said, "I'll go with Ada, check things out down here."

Leon said, "Yeah. You two go back up and get the others, we'll wait down here."

Kevin didn't like that plan at all. Leon was oblivious to Ada's deception, Taylor wasn't a quick enough shot. It had bad news written all over it.

Mark said, "We gotta do something and quick. They could be dying up there."

Kevin cursed. "Okay fine. Mark and I will go back for the others." He looked at Leon, suddenly not concerned for being polite. "You keep an eye on her, " He pointed to Ada, who's eyebrows shot straight up into her hair. "She's hiding something."

Leon met his gaze equally. "Yeah, I figured out that much on my own."

Ada cursed mentally. So they weren't a couple of stupid, donut happy cops. Well what did it matter. She wasn't out to kill any of them, she was after the G-Virus. When she got that, she'd be on her way thank you very much.

Kevin sighed, looked up the stairway. "Back into the spider den buddy."

Mark shuddered, "Let's get it over with and fast."

Kevin swung the shotgun around and pumped a round into it. "Here goes nothing." They started up the stairs.

Ada was already hurrying down the opposing hall.

Leon and Taylor moved after her.

"What do you think she knows?" Taylor tried to keep her voice quiet but it sounded loud in the red lit hallway.

"I don't know. Something about what's going on here."

"Leon," she took his arm, halted him, "It has something to do with Umbrella."

Leon's eyebrows went up. "What are you talking about?"

"There was a man, in a cell upstairs. He said something about Umbrella knowing and Chief Irons knowing everything."

Leon looked a little afraid. "Umbrella built this city."

"I know."

He took her hand, opened his mouth and they heard something. A woman's voice.

They froze. It wasn't Ada speaking, it was someone else. The voice was high pitched, angry, and frightened at the same time.

They hurried toward it.

A woman, dirty, hair in tangles with a wild look in her eyes was holding Ada at gun point.

"You can't have it!" The woman was wailing, "You won't take it!"

Ada looked both scared and unsure. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Little liar! Little whore! It's mine! It's William's!"

"Sure okay. Just calm down!"

The woman turned her panicked eyes, saw Leon and Taylor behind her and turned the gun toward them.

She was crazed, she was terrified. She was going to shoot.

Taylor reacted, she grabbed Leon and shoved at the same moment the gun went off.

She had a minute to think they were going to fall when they hit the ground and skidded along it.

The woman was running away, the sound of her footsteps fading.

Ada yelled, "I…I'm sorry I have to find that woman!" And she was gone in a blur of red, after the crazy woman.

Leon's reached up felt the knot on his head and winced. He'd hit the ground hard enough he'd thought he was going to pass out.

Something was warm and wet on his chest, seeping against his skin. He thought, "Jesus Christ, I've been shot."

But there wasn't any pain.

The horror slid through him, over the confusion and he grabbed Taylor's shoulders, pulled her up.

She was unconscious, her face too pale.

Panicked, he moved her, crawled out from under her and saw the blood that stained bright red through the white of her smock.

The shot had been hurried too low. It should have taken him in the shoulder, he was desperately afraid it had taken her in the heart.

He tore open the smock, his hands already slick with blood. There was too much blood, he couldn't tell. He couldn't see!

He smeared his hands over her chest and saw the hole.

It was just above her right breast. Her heart was on the other side. Wasn't it? Wasn't it? He couldn't think, his blood was pounding so hard that his head hurt.

He turned her over, saw the blood. The bullet had gone right through. That was good.

It had entered through her back and come out the other side.

But then where had it gone?

His arm pit hurt. He looked down. His uniform was ripped away, ragged at the left pit.

Okay. It had gone into him.

That was good. All the blood wasn't hers.

He lifted a hand, felt along his arm pit. There was no exit hole. The bullet was still lodged in there.

It didn't matter. He was okay. It didn't matter.

He stripped off Taylor's smock. She wore a bloody white tank top underneath it.

He had to stop the bleeding.

Leon was panicking. He had to get it together. Ada was gone, she'd abandoned them. He didn't know shit about first aid.

There was footsteps coming. Friend? Enemy? It didn't matter. He had to stop the bleeding.

"Jesus Christ!"

Kevin. That was good. That was okay.

Leon looked up at him, the smock torn in two while he pressed on her chest.

Kevin tried not to panic. Leon was covered in blood, his face coated with it. Taylor was on the ground, deathly still, too pale. She was bloody from the neck down.

They'd been gone ten minutes, maybe twenty. What had happened?

George was already pushing through the stricken people.

"Move please. Move."

He didn't seemed panicked. Kevin remembered he was a doctor.

Cindy was next to him and they knelt down beside Taylor.

George said, softly, "Officer. I need to look at her now."

Leon's eyes were glazed.

George had seen it many times. He was in shock.

Cindy seemed to know what to do. She took Leon's hands, moved them off of the saturated smock. "Leon, look at me. Leon."

His gaze shifted.

"George is a doctor Leon. It's okay now."

George let Cindy handle the other cop and said, "Yoko, I need my scalpel."

Yoko moved up with his bag, dug into it and handed him the scalpel.

"Thank you." He cut away the top part of Taylor's shirt to look at the wound. There was a lot of blood, which implied an artery had been knicked. But George thought that wasn't likely where the wound was. More likely Taylor was just a bleeder, suffered from low iron.

He said, "Yoko, I have some hemostatic medicine in there. Will you give it to me please?"

Yoko nodded and looked through his bag. She handed him a clear white bottle of liquid and a sterile syringe.

He was quick. He was efficient.

Kevin thought there was a reason George was a surgeon. He was great under pressure.

The hemostat did it's job. The bleeding slowed.

George was slipping on a pair of rubber gloves. His back hid Taylor from view.

Kevin could hear someone throwing up. It was probably Jim. The guy vomited at the sight of road kill.

Cindy was taking her time with Leon. She was cleaning off his face with her apron, talking to him in a soft voice, smiling.

Kevin was surprised by how graceful she was under pressure. She was giving George a run for his money.

There was a snap of George pulling off his gloves.

Everyone looked at him, waiting.

"I've packed the wound with gauze and bound her. Her pulse is weak but steady. Her pupils respond well to light. I'd say she passed out from blood loss and pain." He looked at Leon. "If she doesn't become anemic, I think she'll be alright."

Leon nodded, quickly, too fast.

George figured he needed another minute to get it together.

"What the fuck happened?"

Kevin was pissed. Beyond pissed.

Leon put his hands through his hair. "There was a woman, she was crazy. She started shouting that Ada couldn't have it. That it was hers. She freaked and shot at us." He looked haunted. "Taylor jumped in front of me and took the bullet."

George looked at the man. He was young, couldn't be older then twenty five or six. He was also bleeding.

"Officer."

Leon turned his eyes, looked at him.

"Officer you're bleeding. May I look at it please?"

Leon nodded and George knelt in front of him.

"It's Leon. My name's Leon."

George smiled, gently. "So you're the famous Leon. I've heard a lot about you. Taylor was certain you'd make it here alright." He poked at the wound. The bullet was still lodged there. He figured it was stuck in the muscle. Not fatal but it might cause blood poisoning if it wasn't removed. "It seems she knew her man."

Leon nodded, focused on his face. He looked like a doctor. Kind eyes, nice smile.

"Yoko, my bag please."

She handed it to him. "Thank you."

"Officer Leon. The bullet is lodged in your muscle. I'm going to have to get it out." He said, "I'll need you to remove your shirt so I can give you a shot of morphine."

Leon complied.

"I don't have anything to extract the bullet so I'm going to have to use my fingers. It is going to hurt even with the morphine."

He slipped on another pair of gloves.

"Kevin, David will you hold Officer Leon's arms please?"

Cindy knelt by George. "How bad is it going to be?"

Alyssa and Yoko were with Taylor. Alyssa had her head in her lap and Yoko was stroking Taylor's hair.

George looked at Cindy for a moment. "If he doesn't pass out from the pain, I'd be shocked." He turned to Mark. "Would you mind loaning us your belt? He'll need something to bite down on."

George started to administered the morphine and Leon's hand grabbed his suddenly.

"Almost forgot. Can't have it. I'm allergic."

George met his eyes. "Alright. Can't have you going into anaphylactic shock."

He said, "Jim if you wouldn't mind keeping watch please."

The man looked ill at the sight of so much blood. It was better to give him something to do.

Jim nodded gratefully and turned his back to watch down the hallway.

David grabbed one of Leon's arms, Kevin took the other.

Leon bit down on Mark's belt and closed his eyes.

Cindy thought she'd never forget the sound of that muffled scream. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Leon jerked once, just once before he seemed to get some control.

Kevin and David struggled to hold him still.

George worked quietly, quickly.

Cindy turned away when the blood started to pour.

It was over in minutes, the loud ping of the flattened bullet hitting the floor.

She turned back to see George taping white gauze to Leon's armpit.

"You did good. You did just fine."

Leon's face was pale, covered in sweat. He hadn't passed out but it had been close.

Mark's voice said, "I don't want to be a spoil sport but something's coming."

David picked up Taylor. It seemed almost effortless for him.

Kevin shouldered the shot gun. "Come on. Let's go."

Cindy helped Leon get to his feet, kept her arms around him as they started walking. He was shaky but she thought he'd be okay.

They were almost to a wide door at the end of the hall when Leon said, "What about Ada?"

Kevin answered him, angry. "Fuck Ada."

Cindy didn't know this Ada but she was inclined to agree. She'd just abandoned Leon and Taylor.

Alyssa used the card key they'd found in Chief Irons secret room (an obvious torture chamber), to open the wide door.

They had just started to limp through it when they heard the growl.

It was deep, loud and too close.

Cindy spun around and saw it coming.

A crocodile at least thirty feet long with a head as big as a man. It was fast as it slithered, a tail as wide as a tree smashing into the walls as it moved.

She had a moment to realize they were about to die before Kevin yelled, "RUN!"

And they were running down a strange hallway, in some kind of twisted nightmare, where nothing good happened and it seemed certain that none of them were going to make it out alive.


	10. Ten: Nemesis

**So I have on reviewer which makes me think either I suck or no one wants to pop in and read. Are you all on a beach somewhere sipping mai-tais?**

**It doesn't matter. This ones for you Jello and for Brittany and Caroline who I hope enjoy it.**

**Mwhahahha.**

**TEN-Nemesis**

**They all started running.**

**Terror was a great motivator.**

**Kevin was yelling. "Alyssa! George! Aim for the head!"**

**There was the loud booming of shot guns, the sound of the horrible monster screaming.**

**Cindy was helping Leon, who in great pain, still seemed to be very lucid. He ran with her as fast as he could.**

**David, packing another person, was still faster then the two of them.**

**They ran down the long hallway with Yoko and Jim. **

**Mark stayed with George, Kevin, and Alyssa to fire at the beast.******

**They reached the end of the hallway and ran left where it curved. **

**Cindy heard someone screaming behind them.**

**Yoko stopped, pulled the revolver she carried out of her backpack. She said, "According to the schematics, that's the dump over there. Go over the bridge. It should take you into another set of hallways. Wait for me!"**

**She turned back to where the fighting was and started running.**

**Terrified, Cindy moved faster. Leon's wound had bled through the gauze but he kept moving.**

**David was the first one over the bridge with Jim following behind Cindy and Leon.**

**The dump smelled worse then the sewer. Cindy wasn't stupid. She figured some of what was floating in the greenish water was probably toxic.**

**The door to at the end of the bridge was locked. They needed the card key and only Alyssa had it.**

**Alyssa slid along the floor, moving faster then a human could run. The croc had a tail that hit like a speeding car.**

**She figured at least two of her ribs were cracked, maybe broken. The pain was so bad she thought she might pass out from it.**

**She got to her feet and turned back to the battle.**

**Mark was slumped against the wall, utterly still.**

**George and Kevin were still firing but it was like swatting at a buffalo with a fly swatter. They were outmatched.**

**That's when she saw it, it had a flammable symbol on the side of it. **

**She was running toward it before the thought was fully formed in her head.**

**There was a red light on but a flip of a switch and the tank rolled onto the ground with a loud clang.**

**She was running backward, screaming, "GET AWAY FROM IT! COME TO ME! HURRY!"**

**Kevin was dragging Mark. Yoko and George were still firing, backing up.**

**Alyssa thought, "They'll never get here in time." She had to get the monsters attention. She had one chance, they all did.**

**She ran forward, waving her arms, frantically whistling.**

**"Stop shooting it!"**

**They did, almost instantly. **

**It whipped its giant head toward her, snarling.**

**She knew she had a minimum of seconds to make the shot and either save or doom them all.**

**The monster came for her, moving too fast. She backed up, nearly tripping.**

**Three feet, two and the cylinder slid into its giant jaws.**

**She prayed, prayed hard, and took the shot.**

**…..**

**There was an explosion, a burst of fire that licked out of the hallway where they'd just come.**

**Cindy let out a scream.**

**David sat Taylor down and said, "Cindy stay with her." And he was running toward the hallway, back toward the flames.**

**David thought, "They're dead. They're all dead." And his heart hurt a little.**

**It wasn't  relevant but he'd been crazy about Kevin for years. **

**Of course the cop was so straight he should have been gay but it didn't matter. **

**David had never pushed, never done anything but been a friend. He'd never had a chance, not really.**

**They'd had an almost kiss one drunken night about two years ago. **

**Kevin had had a few too many and they'd been sitting around his living room. David, Jim, Kevin and Chris Redfield.**

**The other two had been passed out, comatose from too much good boos.**

**David had seen his one chance to come clean after Kevin had told him the whole drunken story of why he'd become a cop.**

**Feeling closer then ever to the other man, David had moved in. **

**He wasn't a man with a big ego, hell, he wasn't a man with much of an ego at all. But he knew he was attractive.**

**He'd seen the flicker of interest in Kevin's eyes but the cop had had too many bad experiences with men. He'd pulled away at the last moment and passed out.**

**David figured he was the type of man who took something and put it away in some drunken file folder. Just a little of curiosity awakened by too much cheap beer.**

**So David had let it go, content to think that Kevin would eventually open himself up to the possibility.**

**It hadn't happened but it didn't matter. **

**The thought that he might be dead…**

**David ran faster and sprinted out into the hallway.**

**There was bits of dead crocodile like grotesque artwork all over the walls. Pieces dripped from the ceiling.**

**Alyssa was crumbled by the entrance.**

**David knelt down to check on her.**

**She was alive, her breathing even. There was a swelling bump on her forehead that told him she'd probably been thrown backward by the explosion and hit the wall.**

**"David…"**

**He looked up to see Yoko limping toward him. She was a mess. Her face and clothes were splattered with blood and gore. **

**He stood and saw through the blood, Yoko was crying.**

**David hurried over to where she was standing.**

**Mark's body was twisted, swollen, his neck bent at a bad angle obviously broken.**

**He was half underneath the tail of the dead crocodile. David shook his head, closed Mark's eyes which seemed to stare at him accusingly.**

**"Rest now."**** He said quietly.**

**George yelled, "Help me!"**

**Yoko and David turned to see him crawling toward them, his leg broken and oozing blood. Yoko hurried to help him to his feet.**

**Kevin was lying on the floor at the far end of the hallway. **

**David rushed toward him, his heart racing.**

**But Kevin was alright, just gaining consciousness.**

**David helped him sit up with an arm around his shoulders.**

**Kevin's clothes were singed, his face blackened by smoke. He said through gritted teeth, "Alyssa?"**

**"She's alright just knocked out."**

**"Mark?"**

**David looked at his face. "No. I'm sorry."**

**"Fuck."**

**David helped him to his feet. **

**"Where's everyone else?"**

**"Waiting on the bridge.**** I came back to see who made it."**

**Kevin started to stand on his own and David released him, reluctantly. But the cop was steady after a moment.**

**Alyssa was just coming to. She let out a moan that had David hurrying back to her. **

**She tensed as she sat up and then saw the mess the crocodiles head had become. **

**David couldn't contain a smirk when she gave the dead beast the finger.**

**"Suck on that, you ugly mother fucker."**** She let David help her stand.**

**Yoko hugged her just once, very quickly. "You saved us."**

**Kevin was kneeling by Mark's body. There was such grief on his face that it hurt David to see it.**

**Alyssa saw where he was and said, "Shit."**

**Kevin stood, shouldered his shot gun. "Let's go." **

**Yoko was struggling with George who was too big for her small frame to handle.**

**David went to help her.**

**They made their way out of the hallway and were halfway across the bridge when Cindy shouted, "George! Oh my god!"**

**She ran forward and dropped to her knees.**

**"It's okay." George was all but hissing out his words. "It's a clean break. Cindy if you could get my bag. I think I'll take some of the morphine."**

**Leon**** came forward to help David set George on the ground.**

**George said, "You shouldn't aggravate your wound."**

**Leon**** looked at him, smiling. "One good turn deserves another."**

**Cindy came back with the morphine. **

**George smiled at her. "In the right upper arm, please."**

**Kevin moved to check on Taylor. She was still dangerously pale but the bleeding had all but stopped. He checked her pulse. It was stronger, steadier.**

**Alyssa ran the card key through the door.**

**Jim was looking between the people. "Where's Mark?"**

**Yoko just shook her head at him.**

**"Aw fuck! FUCK!" He kicked the wall. "This is bullshit man! BULLSHIT! What is happening here? What the hell is happening?"**

**Kevin said, "Keep it together man. We're almost out of here."**

**"Mark had a family man! He had kids!"**

**"I did the best I could." Alyssa spoke quietly.**

**"Shit it ain't you." Jim put his face in his hands. "I don't know if I can do this man. I think I'm gonna have a fuckin breakdown."**

**Yoko touched his arm, gently. "Jim just hold on a little longer. It'll be over soon."**

**"When it's over, we can all break down together." David's voice was softer, deeper.**

**"Shit. I'm gonna do more then break down." Kevin looked out over the dump. "I'm gettin fuckin wasted."**

**"First rounds on me."**** Leon added softly and helped George stand. **

**David kept one arm around him and Cindy held up his other side.**

**Kevin knelt to pick up Taylor. "Leon, Alyssa and Jim, you guys are the big guns now. You got out backs."**

**Alyssa jacked a round into her shot gun. "Let's get the hell outta this dump."**

**The door buzzed, slid open. **

**They walked through, uncertain of what dangers they'd head into next.**

**…..**

**She was dreaming. She had to be dreaming. **

**Life was never this good.**

**She said, "Kiss the baby."**

**Leon**** kissed the baby. "Red hair. Beautiful red hair."**

**She looked down at the tiny, wrinkled face. The eyes were sky blue and beautiful. She was tired, so tired but she'd brought something wonderful into the world.**

**"Beautiful baby…" **

**But it was changing, it's eyes were black, its gums exposed. It grabbed her hair and opened its mouth. It said one word, slurred it like a drunk, "Starzzzz…."**

**She struggled, fought, kicked…**

**Her eyes opened, blurred. **

**She was being carried.**

**He smelled horrible, like rotten meat, like sewage, like death and blood.**

**She could make out the large D on his chest. **

**Taylor**** whispered, "Leon…"**

**He halted. "She's awake?"**

**Was that Leon's voice? It sounded like him. She was so tired. **

**"Taylor?"**

**Her eyes traveled upward. Strong jaw, dark hair. Not Leon…Kevin.**

**"Kevin…"**

**"Yeah.**** Taylor how do you feel?"**

**Had they made love? Why did he smell so bad? Where was she?**

**It came back to her, in waves, in glimpses. She struggled, just a little.**

**Someone shooting at her, at-**

**"Leon!?"******

**"I'm here. I'm right here."**

**He sounded so sad. He was alive.**

**She lifted her hand, felt him grab it. **

**"Leon…"**

**His face above hers, so pale, so dirty.**** Great sadness in his eyes.**

**"We're even now."**

**She looked at him, smiled. "No. Never be even. You…gave me back my life."**

**It was hard to talk. She hurt, felt dizzy and sick.**

**"Who…helped?"**

**"It was George. He saved your life."**

**"George?"**

**She heard his voice, just over Kevin's shoulder somewhere.**

**"I'm here."**

**"George…thank you."**

**"It was my pleasure."**

**Leon**** was okay. Kevin was okay. She said, "I'm so tired."**

**Kevin was kissing her forehead. "Sleep now. It's okay."**

**She squeezed Leon's hand. "Leon…love you."**

**"I love you too."**

**Her other hand squeezed into Kevin's uniform. She wanted to say something. She'd needed to tell Kevin something but she was so tired.**

**She whispered, "Kevin…love you."**

**"I love you too." And he sounded like he was in pain.**

**But she was too tired and so she slept and there was nothing but darkness.**

**….**

**Ada**** Wong was dead.**

**Leon**** stared at what was left of her and felt nothing.**

**She'd been savaged by something. Her face was badly beaten, large punctures marked her body like oversized bullet holes. **

**They were standing inside some kind of lab. There were computer screens everywhere and disgusting tanks that harbored horrible looking monsters.**

**A tiny purple vial lay in Ada's outstretched hand. **

**Leon**** picked it up and stared at it. **

**It was obviously what she'd come for. He figured it had something to do with why the city was falling down around their ears.**

**Yoko was pounding away on one of the computers.**

**She made a sound that had them all looking at her.**

**"The man was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." She looked at them. "This is going to sound crazy…" She looked at the giant tubes. "Okay maybe not that crazy. But this computer, it's full of all kind of research. On something called the G-Virus. According to this it's a superior synthesis to another virus called the T-Virus. Apparently they were conducting some kind of experiment out at the old Spencer Mansion in the forest. There was a leak…anyway it…." She tried to think of way to say everything in laymen's terms. "It turns humans into zombies and makes any other animals go crazy. It mutates them, gives them superior strength."**

**"Well that's obvious." Alyssa was searching through papers, reading. "Listen to this…_First May, William's finished! He's finally finished! Years and years of research is finally paying off! The G-Virus is a masterpiece. Umbrella has been riding him lately, threatening to cut funding to shut down the lab. All because some idiot lost control in the forest! But it doesn't matter! Nothing matters anymore because he is done! We'll take his masterpiece and sell it to the highest bidder! Soon the world will see the true beauty of William's work!_"**

**Alyssa shook her head. "There's more…" She flipped a page. "_Those bastards!__ Those horrible, horrible bastards! They came for the virus…they wanted to take it…and my pour beautiful William…riddled with bullets…He took the virus and destroyed them…but he's lost to me now. The virus will mutate him. My only hope is to take the last sample, show the world. I will take the lab with me and Umbrella will have nothing. I must hurry before they find and try to take his blood. For you, my love, for William Birkin."_**

**Kevin was shaking his head. "That man was right. Umbrella is behind this. Behind everything."**

**Leon**** stared at the vial. "The crazy woman who shot at us. She kept yelling about William, about Ada not taking it from her." He lifted it up to the light. "This must be what she was talking about. The last remaining vial of the G-Virus."**

**So small, so deadly.**

**"What do we do with it?"**

**Yoko looked excited. "Leon let me see it."**

**He passed it to her. **

**"Listen there's notes here, research into an antivirus." She walked to the computer, tapped keys. "There was never a sample of the antivirus made but the numbers all add up. I think I can make it."**

**Kevin looked at her. What had Yoko been before tonight?**

**"How much time do you need?"**

**She looked at the notes. "Fifteen, twenty minutes."**

**"Okay." He sat Taylor on the floor. "There's no saying that the crazy woman won't be back any minute. And whatever did that to Ada is still out there."**

**Yoko nodded. "We can only assume it's Birkin."**

**Cindy said, "Or the thing that killed that man in front of the station."**

**George nodded. "It could have made those punctures in her. It had tentacles."**

**"Either way," Kevin stood. "We've got to stay together. Some of us are too wounded to fight anything. We know the subways not far from here. But we're going to have to take a lift to get down to it."**

**Leon**** was already agreeing. "I say we let Yoko make the anti-virus."**

**Alyssa added. "According to the crazy bitches' notes, the T-virus wasn't airborne; it was spread by the rats in the city. So we're not infected unless we were bitten."**

**"Still if we run into others we'll have the anti-virus. That way, no one will have to be left behind to die."**

**George said, "We can take the anti-virus, take the research to the Feds."**

**"Exactly.**** Besides, its likely Umbrella has fingers all over the country. We get out and try to tell our story, they're going to shut us up real quick." Leon didn't sound happy about it.**

**Kevin opened his mouth and they heard it. A grinding of metal, a piercing howl.**

**David whispered, "I don't think we have twenty minutes."**

**Kevin hefted the shotgun and David took George's. Leon was already reloading his Desert Eagle. Alyssa dropped the notes, grabbed her gun.**

**"Jim, Alyssa, Cindy, stay here with George and Taylor while Yoko works on the anti-virus." Leon gestured to Kevin and David. "It's the home stretch."**

**They moved toward the door.**

**With a nod, Kevin went through first. **

**There was blazing heat on the other side of the door. They were standing above a pool of molten lava on a very slim bridge.**

**Someone screamed.**

**They all turned and saw a little girl running across the bridge in front of them. She looked terrified and stumbled once, going down on one knee.**

**Kevin was already running toward her when he saw what she was running from.**

**It was human, or had once been, with a face as white as snow and dirty, burning trench coat on shoulders as broad as he was tall.**

**Kevin didn't stop running. He snatched up the little girl and passed her back to David.**

**He caught sight of movement. There was a woman chasing after the monster. She had a small brown ponytail and a tight black shirt with a pink vest. **

**She was waving her arms in the air and yelling. "Sherry! It wants the necklace! Throw me the necklace!"**

**Kevin fired at the monster who was still coming toward them, its ugly eyes intent on the little girl who huddled against David, crying.******

**The monster didn't stumble as the shot took it clean in the chest. It kept coming, screaming.**

**Leon**** fired and Kevin echoed him. Buckshot tore at it's stomach, at the meat of its chest and still it came, moving slowly but nimbly toward them.**

**The little girl was throwing something. It glittered as it spun, end over end.**

**The woman on the other side of the bridge caught it, yelled. "Hey! Hey freak! I got it right here!"**

**The monster turned abruptly, taking another round in its back as it lumbered toward her.**

**Leon**** was yelling. "Claire! Claire!"**

**She lifted her arm and threw the gold thing into the lava. **

**The monster wailed, angry and started after it, tearing through the metal of the bridge as it went. It sizzled as it sunk, searching.**

**Claire was coming toward them. "Leon! Hey!"**

**About a foot from them, the bridge shook and she went to her knees. **

**The monster was there again, howling. **

**Claire looked horrified. "No…it was…in the necklace…"**

**Leon**** figured he knew what the monster wanted. "He wants the G-Virus!"**

**Claire was screaming. "It was in the necklace!"**

**"No," Kevin grabbed her arm, lifted her up. "There's a sample inside the lab."**

**The monster was coming toward them. **

**David set the little girl down, who immediately scrambled into Claire's arms.**

**Kevin, David and Leon started firing in unison. **

**David yelled, "Get to the lab! Hurry!"**

**The girl was already running with the little girl wrapped around her like a monkey.**

**The monster was six feet away, five, four. David thought, "This is it. There's no stopping this thing."**

**Kevin yelled, "Into the lab! Get into the lab!"**

**David turned and ran. **

**Leon**** stepped shoulder to shoulder with Kevin.**

**"Kennedy are you nuts? Get in the fucking lab!"**

**"You think I'm gonna let you die a hero? I'm a cop too. Serve and protect."**

**Kevin looked at him for a heartbeat. "You're an idiot."**

**"Most cops are."**

**They reloaded, aimed, and prepared to die.**

**…..**

**Jill's heart was beating a mile a minute. **

**After the dogs had attacked, Brad Vicker's had left them stranded. **

**The only thing that kept her running was the promise to herself to kick his fucking ass when they got back to the city.**

**They'd lost Barry, Chris and Captain Wesker somewhere in the forest. **

**He'd yelled at them, told them to head to the mansion but she'd panicked, turned wrong. She was out here alone in the darkness with howling, slobbering, drooling monsters.**

**She'd been stumbling, tripping and running through the woods endlessly for at least twenty minutes. Wherever the beasts were, they weren't near her. She hadn't heard anything but her own heavy breathing and the snap of twigs for a long time.**

**She thought she couldn't be far from the city. The forest had thinned out considerably the last few minutes. Either she was headed back to Raccoon or further out toward the mountains. Either was fine with her as long as she got out of this nightmare.**

**Jill went down on one knee, her foot tangled around a fallen tree trunk. **

**She cursed, started to rise and heard it. Slow, painfully slow like stalking. Crunch of snow, of dead leaves. **

**She looked around frantically. It was too dark; she'd lost her flashlight back near the helicopter. Every gnarled, leafless tree looked menacing, deadly. **

**The steps were getting closer.**

**She lifted the gun and listened.**

**Heavy breathing.**** Panting? **

**She aimed toward the sound, her heart threatening to burst.**

**Her finger was on the trigger. If she fired and it didn't know she was here, it would certainly come for her. If it already knew and she hesitated, she was dead.**

**She listened, readjusted her aim, and eased down on the trigger.**

**"Jill?"**

**The voice was soft, deep. Chris.**

**Her muscles felt like liquid. She lowered the Beretta.**

**"Chris?" She tried to keep her voice low like his, a whisper.**

**"Jill, where are you?"**

**"I'm over here."**

**They were moving toward each other, more by sound and instinct then anything else.**

**Their hands caught, held. **

**"Christ, I nearly had a heart attack."**

**She could just make out the white of his smile. Where was the moon when you needed it?**

**"I almost shot you until I heard you cuss."**

**Jill mentally tsked herself. "Great. Death by the f-word. What a way to go."**

**Their hands were still clasped. Neither seemed to want to let go.**

**"Where's Barry?" She kept her voice low. "Captain Wesker?"**

**"I don't know. I saw you run the wrong way and followed you but I got turned around back there and lost you."**

**"Yeah.**** Too bad I'm not fucking Sacagawea."**

**He snickered. "I think we're close to Raccoon. I was a little farther up when I heard you coming and could see the water tower not too far from here."**

**"Thank god. I was afraid I was going to die out here."**

**"You and me both.**** Let's get back to the city, get to the station and let them know that Wesker and Barry are still out here."**

**"Not to mention some of the Bravo team."**

**"Yeah…maybe."******

**Yeah she didn't think so either but she was hopeful. Wesker had known to run to the mansion maybe some of the Bravos had too.**

**They trekked through the forest for a long time with only the comfort of their touching hands and the whiteness of their breath puffing out before them.**

**The forest led them to the edge of the park.**

**Relieved, Jill said, "Thank god. Civilization. I could kiss you."**

**Chris grinned at her. "I'll hold you to that promise."**

**She looked at him, considering. "Maybe you won't have to."**

**His hand tightened on hers, just a little, his thumb brushing once across her knuckles. **

**She hadn't been wrong, he was interested. She wasn't sure why it should matter in light of everything that had happened tonight but it did.**

**They started walking, a little faster then they'd done in the forest. **

**The station was just a hop, skip and a jump from the park.**

**She stopped before they reached the gate into the city proper. **

**A man was stumbling around just on the other side of it. His head was down and he looked seriously wasted.**

**Chris said, "Looks like a few too many."**

**She started to agree when the man went still and then started moaning. **

**The hair on the back of her neck rose instantly. **

**"That guys not drunk."******

**She'd been thinking the same thing herself.**

**They moved a little closer, letting each other's hand go, each of them going for their weapons.**

**When they got close enough, they saw the man in the light of street lamp and Chris said, "Jesus Christ."**

**He was covered in blood; half his face looked melted away, one eye jiggling uselessly in the socket.**

**Jill lifted the gun, knowing she was looking at something not human when they heard it. **

**It was low and close to them.**

**She aimed over Chris' shoulder and said, "Get down!"**

**She fired at the same instant he ducked. The bullet took one of the stumbling freaks right through the forehead. It fell backward, arms still scrambling before falling still.**

**She whispered, "What the fuck is going on?"**

**Chris was already dispatching the stumbling thing by the gate. "I don't know. But we've got to get to the station now."**

**They pushed open the gates and started running.**

**It got worse the closer they got to the station. The freaks were everywhere.**

**She and Chris went through at least two clips a piece before they emerged into the courtyard, unable to slow, unable to stop. **

**"The whole city's gone crazy!"**

**"I know! Keep going!"**

**They ran toward the doors and Jill stumbled when she saw the body that lay there, eyes wide and terrified, mouth hanging open.**

**"Chris!"**

**"I know! Jill keep moving!"**

**It was Brad Vickers. **

**She kept running.**

**Something had destroyed his throat, mangled his face. **

**She suddenly realized he'd gotten a raw deal after all.**

**They burst through the doors of the station, both of them throwing their weight behind them. **

**The freaks were coming across the courtyard, moaning, stumbling. **

**She yelled, "We have to block these doors!"**

**Chris was already moving. "Forget it! Throw the lock on it!"**

**She bolted the door and ran after him. **

**"Where are we going?"**

**"To the basement.**** If anyone one's alive they're down there. It's the safest place in the building."**

**It was a good point.**

**They ran far the far door when they heard it. **

**Jill was rolling before she could think about it and something split the air where her head had been, slamming into the wall beside her.**

**Chris had rolled the opposite direction. **

**It was horrible, mutated. Her mind tried to wrap around it and it lifted it's head back and roared, "STARZZZZ!"**

**Chris was grabbing her arm and they were running again. Through the door, down the stairs, with the monster never far behind.**

**When they reached the basement, he pushed her toward the door at the opposite end. **

**"Go!"**

**"Chris!"**

**"There's a manhole in the second cell, it'll take you into the sewers!"**

**"How do you know?"**

**"Barry and I found it out one day when we were trying to play solitaire on one of the computers. Go hurry!"**

**"Chris I won't go without you!"**

**"There's no time Jill! GO!"**

**She grabbed his arm and pulled him with her. **

**"Jill let me go!"**

**"You come with me or I don't go."**

**He gave up and ran with her. They burst through the door into the cell block area just as the monster got to the bottom of the stairs, howling, impossibly fast.**

**The manhole was open. Someone had gone down before them.**

**Jill started climbing. She went down three rungs and dropped the rest of the way. **

**It wasn't far but she hit her knees and rolled, sputtering nasty water as she came up.**

**There was the sound of gunfire from up above.**

**She batted water out of her eyes and waited. It was hard to see. The emergency lights had been activated and the world was lit by an ugly red glow.**

**She yelled, "Chris!"**

**And he was suddenly falling down the manhole.**

**Without thinking, she lifted her arms to catch him.**

**With a grunt, she slipped under the water again. He was heavier then he looked.**

**He was already pulling her along with him when the first tentacle snaked through the manhole after them.**

**He grabbed her arm and pulled. **

**They sloshed through the waist high water. She tried not to focus on three floating, bloated bodies of impossibly large spiders that were scattered like lily pads on a pond.**

**Someone had come through before them, thank god.**

**There was a rise up ahead and they leapt up together already running down the stairs when they heard the sound of concrete crumbling and the gigantic splash that followed.**

**The ground was stained with tacky blackness that Jill knew was drying blood. Someone had been seriously injured.**

**She didn't see a body which meant either the spiders had eaten it or they'd managed to go on, maybe mortally wounded but not dead yet.**

**There wasn't time to check, there wasn't even time to think about it.**

**They ran.**

**There was an open door at the end of the hallway. Jill barely had time to see the remains of a still blazing fire before they were leaping over what had to be the largest crocodile she'd ever laid eyes on.**

**It's**** head was little more then bits of bone and broken teeth. Someone had made short work of it.**

**There was a body half crushed underneath it and Jill had a moment to figure she was staring at the bleeder from the hallway before when the monster was bursting through the burning doorway behind them.**

**Her heart wanted to burst, her ribs ached and still they ran, terror giving their feet wings.**

**Up over a bridge toward another door.******

**It was gaining on them. It didn't care about aching lungs, shortness of breath, tired muscles. It was inhuman and they couldn't run forever.**

**They pushed through the door on the opposite side and kept going.**

**The hallway was still lit by the ugly red. She felt like she was in a bad spy movie. Like there should be a voice on an intercom somewhere taunting them as they ran.**

**They hallway split into a T-shape and they veered left, still running.**

**No time to think, to consider.**

**There was a door at the end of the hallway. She paused long enough to yank it open and they went through, Jill first, Chris backing up after her.**

**Terror leapt into her chest as she came through the over side.**

**They were on a narrow bridge and beneath them, lava rolled and steamed, seeming to beckon her into its burning embrace.**

**The sound of gunshots had her head coming up. All she could see was the huge back of something that was too large to be human. **

**Her mind raced for something, anything that could save them. They were trapped between two hulking beasts.**

**Someone yelled, "Come and get it, you bastard!"**

**Jill took Chris's hand, looked at him. "We've got one shot."**

**He nodded. "We have to go under it."**

**She was already running. They had one chance. **

**With someone firing on the monster in front of them, the thing was slow, unsteady. They could time their run and slide. If it didn't step wrong, they'd be able to go right under it, come out the other side.**

**It was risky but it was their only chance.**

**Jill closed her eyes, leapt, and started sliding. **

**Dirty cloth slapped into her face, she felt her uniform tear at one shoulder, the pain of heated steel grinding over her flesh. She came to a rolling stop at someone's feet. **

**She had time to look up at Kevin Ryman's startled face before Chris slammed into her and she grunted, kept from going further by Kevin's foot on her shoulder.**

**Leon Kennedy was grabbing Chris, helping him up when they all heard it.**

**"STARZZZ!"******

**Jill scrambled up and lifted her weapon. **

**The monster they'd slid under was less then four feet away.**

**There was pounding coming across the bridge, fast, faster. **

**She thought, "This is it. It's over."**

**And then something happened. One monster hit another.**

**They didn't like being in the other's way.**

**The big one in black turned just as the one with the tentacles reached for it, intent on sending it spinning out of it's way.**

**Kevin yelled, "They're going to fight each other! GO!"**

**And Jill turned and started running, toward an open doorway at the other end of the bridge. They had maybe five minutes before the monster either killed each other or decided to get along for the common good.**

**She didn't know where they were going but they'd better get there…fast.**


	11. Eleven: The end of the beginning and the...

**David, my buddy, my pal. This one is for you. Cause you inspire me and keep me going and cause your dedication was long over due.**

**::****J******

**Hope this chapter is a good one, it was painful to write. I found myself going NO NNONONONONO half the time but we all know that sometimes, characters don't do what we think they should. Sigh.**

**Enjoy.**

**Eleven-The end of the beginning, and the beginning of the end….**

**"It's done!" Yoko lifted the tiny sample, grinning. "In five minutes, we'll have another sample and then-"**

**"We gotta go now!"**

**Everyone jerked as Kevin and Leon burst through the door.**

**Cindy had a moment to be shocked that they had even more people with them when she heard the growling, the fighting from where they'd come.**

**Yoko said, "But I only have one sample of the anti-virus…"**

**"It'll have to be enough." Leon reached her side. "Give me the G-virus."**

**Yoko did what he asked, quickly. **

**He said, "David get Taylor." And then he was running back where they'd come. **

**Cindy saw him hurl the virus into the steaming lava below the lab.**

**Cindy looked at the two new people that had come in with Leon and Kevin. One was Chris Redfield, she'd met him at the bar a few times. The other was a woman she didn't know.**

**There wasn't time to consider the four new additions to their group. **

**They were running again.**

**Yoko yelled, "The subway shouldn't be too far! Come on!"**

**The shoved through a door on the other side of the lab and kept going, across another bridge, toward a large set of doors.******

**The door slid up as they ran toward it and Yoko went through first with the rest of the group close on her heels.**

**The hallway was narrow and opened onto what could only be a lift. **

**A big yellow thing that Cindy wanted to call a train compartment sat waiting less then fifty yards away.**

**Yoko cried, "We need a key!"**

**Alyssa reached her first and knelt in front of the console, already wielding her lock picks. She went to work, her face utterly calm.**

**The door to the lift whined on its wheels and opened.**

**Jill, Kevin, Leon and Chris all turned, guns pointed. **

**Leon**** yelled, "Claire, Cindy! Get the girl and George on the lift!" David had already taken Taylor on board.**

**Yoko stepped up beside Jill, revolver aimed.**

**Something came through the door at a running crouch. It was squat and slimy looking with arms long and graced with giant claws. **

**There was a cacophony of sound as they all started firing.**

**It flew backward with the force of shots fired.**

**There was a loud beeping and a voice came over the intercom. "Self Destruct system has been activated. You have five minutes to reach minimum safe distance."**

**Alyssa cried, "Got it!"**

**And Leon turned sprinted toward her.**

**Jill cried, "Shit there's another one!"**

**Gunshots sounded, abnormally quiet against the repeating female voice that thundered like the voice of god above them.**

**They started to pile onto the lift as Alyssa hit a button. **

**She slammed the door behind her as it started to lower, slowly but surely into the ground.**

**There was a rustle, a thump. **

**Something was on the roof.**

**Leon**** yelled, "Everyone hit the floor!" And a pair of claws tore through the roof with a scream of metal.**

**Whatever it was peeled the steel back like opening a tin can.**

**A clawed hand as wide as his shoulders speared downward. **

**Leon**** had a moment to roll and they slashed inches above his head. He felt the air shift as he moved. **

**He came up on one knee, gun pointed at the gaping hole in the roof.**

**An eyeball as large as his head peered down at him, blinking, the iris a multihued red. **

**Leon**** though he'd never seen anything as horrible as that blinking eye.**

**David was already firing at it with Jim's hand gun. **

**Jim had passed out from fear or hitting the floor too hard, Leon wasn't sure.**

**Guns started to sound, quick, furious.**

**The thing on the roof wailed, a sound that was too close too human. Leon felt the pity for it snake through his chest. Whatever Umbrella had done to it, it had been a man once.**

**Death was as close to mercy as they could offer it.**

**The monster teetered and fell sideways. Leon could hear the sound of it sliding down the roof and then, nothing.**

**There was just the steady hum of the lift lowering.**

**Taylor**** was sitting up.**

**He was so shocked to see her awake that he bobbled his Desert Eagle and Yoko took it from his hands, smiling gently.**

**Leon could feel the blood, warm and wet, on his side. The pain had subsided to a dull ache. **

**He crawled toward Taylor.**

**It seemed none of them were too eager to stand. There was something imminently safer about the floor.**

**She had her head in her hands. **

**Leon**** kept crawling until she looked up at him and moved her hands. **

**He crawled right into her, his arms wrapping about her as hers slid around his neck. They came to their knees, holding each other.**

**She was cool to the touch and trembling but he thought he'd never held anything so wonderful in his life. For a moment, standing on that bridge, facing the monster that wouldn't die, he'd thought his life was over. **

**He'd thought he'd never get the chance to touch her again and it had almost killed him.**

**Kevin sat watching them, with his back against the wall of the lift. He felt like someone was driving a knife into his chest. **

**He closed his eyes, leaned his head back. **

**"Feels like shit, huh?"**

**David.**

**He rolled his head, looked at the other man. **

**Kevin wasn't stupid. He knew interest when he saw it. **

**He just wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about it.**

**He'd been down the man on man highway. Hell, he'd been through every man on man alley. All it had given him was an intimacy complex and a drinking problem.**

**It wasn't that he didn't like David. The guy was a little standoffish, kind of bordered on rude sometimes, but Kevin thought they were pretty good friends.**

**He'd just never really considered the possibility of being with another man again. He liked David as much as any friend. He just wasn't sure it was anything more then that.**

**"Yeah.**** Well…I knew what they had. I saw it. I just thought…hoped I was wrong." Kevin set the gun down beside him, laid his fingers against his scalp and kneaded at his aching head.**

**David smirked, one corner of his mouth going up. "For what it's worth, it's her loss."**

**Kevin scoffed. "You're probably the only person that thinks so."**

**"Maybe someday that'll make a difference." David scooted away, back to talk with Yoko.**

**Kevin tried to remember why any of this was relevant. They'd probably all be dead by morning. What did the little shit matter?**

**Taylor and Leon were still wrapped together. Her hands in his hair, on his face.**

**Kevin cursed. Who was he kidding? He was fucked. What did it matter if he died? What was he going home to? Nothing and nobody. Just like usual.**

**"Listen, no woman is worth that much pain."**

**He glanced up. **

**Alyssa was sitting on one of the benches beside the wall. Her face was black with soot, her blonde hair in tangles. She was pretty and she was passionate and brave.**

**Kevin thought she might have interested him before he'd met Taylor.**

**He lifted his arm and she slid downward into the curve of it.**

**So they'd never work as a couple, he figured they could at least lean on each other. Because she was right. No woman was worth this much pain.**

**The lift shuddered. **

**Kevin lifted his head, looked out the window, and saw that something was stuck to it.**

**For a minute, his mind rebelled.**

**But he realized that it was a little late to have a break down.**

**It was scuttling up the side of the lift and he had a moment to yell, "Everyone move!"**

**And something flicked through the hole in the roof. **

**Cindy screamed.**

**George was yelling. Leon was trying to aim.**

**Kevin grabbed the shotgun and got to his knees as Cindy was yanked out through the roof, still screaming.**

**It had happened too fast. Something had wound around her throat and jerked her out before anyone them could do more then scream.**

**Leon was opening the door, climbing out onto the walkway beside the lift.**

**Kevin went for the opening. "David! Boost me up!"**

**David made a cradle out of his hands and Kevin stuck his foot in it, grabbed the edge of the hole, and hoisted himself up.**

**The shotgun bumped against his back as he pulled himself up.**

**The lift descended slowly but it was still hard to find balance.**

**Kevin looked around frantically. There was nothing in sight. Panic started to flutter in his chest.**

**The he heard the gunshots.**

**He was running, sliding a little on the slick roof. At the drop off, he skidded to a stop.**

**The ugly monster with the long tongue was stuck to the side of the lift. Cindy dangled from its horribly long tongue, she was kicking her legs, her face purpling.**

**Kevin felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.**

**If he fired, the thing might fall and Cindy would fall with it. If he didn't fire, she would strangle to death.**

**He had seconds to decide.**

**It didn't come down to his decision. Cindy raised her arm and slashed at the tongue around her throat. She had George's scalpel.**

**The ugly monster wailed and uncurled his tongue. **

**Kevin screamed her name as she fell, spinning into the darkness below them. He opened fire on the ugly thing. The heavy shells tore into it and knocked it loose. It scrambled uselessly, metal sparking and Kevin kept firing even as it tumbled down into the darkness in a burst of blood. **

**He fired until there was nothing but the rush of air, the steady hum of machinery, the sound of his screaming, and the rapid click of an empty chamber.**

**The lift shuddered again, jerked badly and slid to a lingering stop. **

**They'd reached the bottom. He slid off the roof, landing in an awkward roll on the ground. His knee gave out and he slumped to one side, the shotgun skidding across the concrete, useless, forgotten.**

**Cindy was lying three feet away.**

**He crawled toward her. **

**She'd landed on her face, one arm twisted up and around her back, one leg cocked sideways in an L-shape. Her neck was swollen, abraded, badly bruised, blood ran down over her chin, stained the white front of her uniform. **

**He gathered her into his arms and knew the moment he touched her that she was dead.**

**He was holding her in his lap, rocking. **

**She'd loved him. She might have been the only woman in the world that would ever love him. And he'd treated her like nothing.**

**He brushed at her bloody hair and held on.**

**Someone was crying. He heard the choppy sound of the sobs and figured he couldn't blame them. She was dead and she'd been wonderful.**

**"Kevin…"**

**He looked up, just a little.**

**Yoko was kneeling there and there was so much pain on her face, so much sadness. Had she been crying?**

**"Kevin…?"**

**David was close to him, a hand on his shoulder. His face was blank, stoic.**

**He looked up a little higher. He could see Taylor and Leon arguing. She kept pulling away from him and he would pull her back, hold her close. Kevin could see the rage on her face, the horror. **

**Had it been her crying he'd heard?**

**"Kevin, let her go now."**

**David again, his voice deep, soft and filled with something. Pity? Kevin didn't know.**

**His chest hurt. He'd landed badly on one knee. Why did his chest hurt?**

**Yoko's face, so close. She had tears on her cheeks. **

**There was the woman in the pink jacket, holding the little girl's face against her shoulder, walking away.**

**Chris and Jill looking at him, something in both their eyes. The same thing that was in David's voice. Pity? Grief? He just didn't know.**

**George limping out of the lift.**** Jill helping him down.**

**He was coming around the corner.**

**Kevin saw the pain on his face, the grief and it was obvious this time and easy to read.**

**David, pulling Cindy away from him.**

**Kevin struggled, let out a sound like a wounded animal and then he knew who was crying. He was.**

**He hadn't cried in…he couldn't remember. It didn't matter. He had to get it together. He had to get it together.**

**Yoko's hands on his face, on his cheeks, staring into his eyes. **

**He gathered her into his arms and held her close. She was so small, like a little girl. **

**There was the wetness of her tears on his shoulder. He put his face in her neck and cried.**

**David was taking Cindy away. She was dead. She was dead and he had failed her. He'd failed them all.**

**Someone's arms around them both.**** He opened his eyes. **

**Alyssa and George.**

**Jim and David.**

**They were all huddled together. Jim was crying, George was crying. Alyssa and David dry eyed and strong.**

**And Kevin so weak, always so weak, huddled in the middle.**** A failure. **

**He wouldn't fail any of them, ever again.**

**…..**

**"The subway shouldn't be far."**

**Yoko's voice was loud in the quiet hallway. **

**"I think we'll come to a T somewhere up here. We gotta go right."**

**Everyone was strangely quiet. They'd lost Mark and Cindy, Phil and countless others. Some had boyfriends, girlfriends, lovers and friends. How many were dead? How many had become monsters?**

**Yoko reached a door at the end of the hallway. "This should lead us into the generator room. The ramp to the subway should be on the other side."**

**She opened the door and walked through.**

**The generator room was loud, the heavy thumping of equipment and the whine of motors. **

**They walked slowly but cautiously.**

**The room was split into two separate steel bridges over an endless drop.**

**Jim, David, Jill and Chris crossed one with George being half carried by Chris.**

**Kevin****, Leon****, Taylor and Yoko went across the other while Claire carried Sherry close behind them.**

**At the end, there was a step up to a platform. Jill had just climbed up when she heard it.**

**Terror speared through her chest like ice.**

**"STARZZZZZZZZ!"******

**"Doesn't that fuckin thing ever die?"**

**Concrete flew as it burst through the wall behind them, less then twenty yards away. The only thing between them the small bridges.**

**Chris passed George to David and yelled, "It wants S.T.A.R.S. It can have me." He turned to Leon. "Get these people on that fucking subway."**

**They stared at each other for a moment before Leon nodded. **

**Claire cried, "Chris! Are you crazy!?"**

**"Claire, I love you. Now do the right thing and trust me." **

**Kevin passed him the shotgun, clasped his hand. "You got balls of steel, Redfield."**

**"Yeah.**** That's what your Mom told me too."**

**They grinned at each other. **

**"Take care of my sister."**

**The monster was moving quickly now, crossing the bridge at a run.**

**"GO!"**

**Yoko slammed open the door already running. They all followed her.**

**It slammed shut and Chris felt the fear creeping into his heart, through his stomach. **

**Jill touched his shoulder, lifted the revolver Yoko had given her. **

**"Guess were not gonna get that kiss."**

**Chris grabbed her around the waist and laid his lips on hers. **

**She grabbed his hair and poured herself into him.**

**They drew back.**

**The monster was less then twenty feet away. **

**They started firing.**

**….**

**Kevin was carrying the little girl.**

**Claire had all but collapsed after leaving Chris behind. She was sobbing, being half carried by Leon.**

**The subway had been a ten second sprint from the door.**

**Yoko was at the controls, trying desperately to figure them out.**

**If anyone could, she could.**

**Leon**** could hear the rapid boom of gun fire. Jill and Chris were making their last stand.**

**Something inside of him was screaming. It was his duty and he'd left them behind. His friends were dying, to give them all a chance. **

**He'd never forget it.**

**The train hummed to life.**

**He could only hear the sound of one gun now.**

**Taylor**** whispered, "Chris…"**

**Claire had passed out on the floor of the train. Leon thought it was better that way.**

**George was leaning against one wall, teeth gritted. **

**Jim was pacing, muttering to himself. **

**David had taken up a post against the wall, one foot lifted, arms crossed over his chest.**

**Alyssa was sitting at his feet, her face in her hands.**

**The little girl had curled into a ball near the back of the cabin, staring blankly at the wall opposite her.**

**Kevin was standing near the doors of the train, staring at door they'd come through. There was something in his face, something left over from Cindy's death, reborn at the promise of Chris and Jill's.**

**Leon**** sunk to the floor and slid an arm around Taylor as the train started to roll.**

**There was a gurgle, wet, and horrible.**

**Kevin reached over, picked up Alyssa's shot gun. He knew what he was looking at.**

**David turned his head and looked out the window. His face was blank.**

**Something was mutating just beyond the window. It was the ugly pink thing that had broken free of the man's chest. **

**As he watched it sprouted tiny, spindly looking arms. Ragged bumps formed over its spine. In a matter of moments, it had grown to the size of a pony, an elephant. **

**Kevin walked toward the back of the train, calm as ever.**

**He paused for a moment and looking for a few seconds at Leon, he knelt in front of Taylor.**

**She put her hands on his face, smiled.**

**When she kissed him, Leon thought it was maybe the first time in his life that he wasn't jealous.**

**Kevin leaned back, smiling. He said, "Love you."**

**And Taylor's eyes filled with tears. "Love you."**

**He stood, grinned at Leon. "Take care of this girl."**

**"Count on it."**

**"Dave?"**

**"Right behind ya."******

**David tipped an imaginary hat as he backed into the next car of the train. "Ladies and gentlemen."**

**Together, the two men walked into the next compartment.**

**They heard the scream of metal, the wail of the monster and kept walking.**

**David said, "I'd have made you forget all about her."**

**Kevin smirked, met his eyes. "I don't know if you're that good."**

**David was grinning. "Women don't have nothin on me."**

**With a laugh, Kevin walked toward the door to the last car of the train.**

**He paused at the door, looked at David and thought, why the hell not.**

**He grabbed a handful of the plumber's uniform and kissed him, a hard smack on the lips.**

**David was grinning.**

**"Yeah.**** You're not that good."**

**They were both laughing as they stepped into the last compartment.**

**…..**

**Something landed on the roof of the subway.**

**Leon**** knew the minute he heard the human screaming what it was.**

**He stood, picked up his Desert Eagle. Taylor stood with him.**

**"No."**

**She looked at his face. "I won't lose you both."**

**Metal screamed. Gun fire sounded from the rear of the train.**

**He kept his eyes on her face.**

**"Don't ask me to wait here Leon. You're not a cop with me and I won't sit aside while you die."**

**She bent, picked up Jim's hand gun.**

**Leon**** said, "Alyssa, Jim, get George and Claire and Sherry up to the front with Yoko."**

**There was the sound of a dying man. The roof sparked peeled back.**

**Leon****'s hair whirled, tangled from the force of the wind wheeling by.**

**Everyone scrambled. **

**Taylor went to one knee as the monster dropped into the compartment, the train jerking and bouncing from its weight.**

**The eye on its shoulder was bleeding, swollen shut. Its tiny head had its mouth thrown open as it screamed, a cry of blood, of fury.**

**Leon fired and the shot went wide as it swept an arm out and caught him in the chest, flicking him away like a gnat.**

**He hit the wall, rolled across the floor. Knives sliced through his chest as he struggled to breathe. **

**He didn't think anything was broken.**

**The air sparked with gunfire, the flash of a muzzle bright in the semi-darkness.**

**Leon gained his feet, the Desert Eagle still clutched in his left hand.**

**He lifted it, took aim on one of its ugly eyes and fired. **

**The force of its roar shook the walls of the train. Taylor stumbled a little, lifted her gun and kept firing. **

**Bullets smashed into its shredded flesh like rain drops, barely making a dent.**

**She thought, "This is it. It's over."**

**The back door swished open. **

**Kevin and David stood there, covered in blood, in guts. David was already firing before they stepped into the room.**

**Leon****'s Desert Eagle clicked empty. He threw it down and charged.**

**Taylor**** had a moment the scream and she was running.**

**The monster was torn between the two, its blinded face whipping back and forth, trying desperately to lock onto one target.**

**Kevin's shot gun hit the ground with a clatter. He started running.**

**David was close behind him.**

**The monster swung one of its giant arms. **

**David and Kevin were caught in its path, swept clean. David smashed into the ceiling, fell hard against the floor, and went still.**

**Kevin slammed high against the wall, tumbled to the floor and came up on a roll, convinced his collarbone was fractured. **

**The monster raised its clawed hand and it smashed into the ceiling, shattering the light. With a tinkle of glass, darkness fell.**

**The darkness sparked, once, twice. Jim was in the doorway, firing.**

**The train bounced once, hard. **

**And through the screaming of the monster, the chatter of gun fire, Yoko's voice came over the intercom.**

**"OH GOD! WE'RE GOING TO CRASH! SOMEONE'S LOCKED UP THE CONTROLS!"**

**Then the train was tilting, impossibly tilting, turning. **

**It smashed into the tunnel on the opposite side and kept going. Sparks turned into flame.**

**Kevin and Leon looked at each other and bum rushed the monster, shoving, shoving, toward the torn away side of the train, toward the fire.**

**Taylor**** screamed.**

**The train went onto its side and they were all falling, grappling wildly for something to hang onto.**

**Jim was sucked screaming out into the darkness.**

**The monster wailed as it burned, turned a frightening orange by the flames that licked like hungry tongues up its body.**

**Then they were rolling, rolling, metal melting from fire, from friction. **

**The train slowed, stopped.**

**And there was nothing but the darkness.**


	12. Twelve: Idiots

**So, with the action on the back burner for the moment, the love story starts to pick up.**

**There's a suggestion of love from a lot of different angles in this one, hopefully, by the grace of no writers block, I'll be able to pursue them all.**

**I wonder who's gonna end up with who? I don't even know myself.**

**It's about to get down and soap operaish again. Here we go.**

**Jello****, my buddy, David loves Kevin.**

**Twelve- Idiots **

**There was so much pain. It hurt to breathe, to move, to _think_.**

**_Am I dead? Am I dying?_**

**Confusion.**** Dementia. He hurt. He hurt so bad. He was alive.**

**He lifted his head, his vision was blurry. It was so hard to see. So hard.**

**Thoughts that ran together like rain on a windshield.**

**Blood, so much blood.**

**Was it his? Was it…**

**"Jill?"**

**His voice, deep, gruff.**** It hurt to talk. **

**"Jill!?"******

**He rolled, tried to sit up.**

**Burning flesh.**** He could smell burning flesh.**

**His?**

**"JILL!"**

**Hands on his back, lifting. Red…hair.**

**"Barry?"**

**"Chris hold on. Just hold on."**

**And then he heard it. The voice on the intercom.**

**"Two minutes to reach minimum safe distance."**

**Barry lifting him, like a baby. **

**"JILL!"**

**"It's ok Chris. She's ok."**

**She was okay. **

**Another face.**** Blonde hair, dark glasses.**

**Chris was fading, he could feel the darkness coming for him. **

**He whispered. "Captain Wesker?"**

**And sank down into the waiting dark.******

**….**

**He couldn't move his legs. **

**Something was holding him down, trapping him.**

**Leon**** felt the panic rise with his conscious mind. He started to struggle.**

**Was he paralyzed?**

**The thing across his legs groaned, shifted.**

**Everything came back in a flash. **

**The accident.**** The crash. The monster.**

**"David?"**

**Yoko's voice, close to him in the dark.**

**"Yoko!"**

**"Leon!" He could hear movement.**

**Fire was crackling not far from where he lay.**

**Leon**** opened his eyes.**

**David lay across his legs. The train had flipped onto its side. **

**David was moving, struggling.**

**Leon touched his shoulder, "David…can you hear me?"**

**"Yeah."******

**He shifted, sat up. **

**"David!"**

**"Yoko!"**

**"David, Leon! I'm trapped. The seat is pinning me in! George is with me! Hurry he's not moving!"**

**David was already moving toward the sound of her voice.**

**Leon struggled to his feet, swayed a little. He thought he had a pretty good concussion; his vision was a little blurry.**

**There was a groan farther back, closer to the fire.**

**"Oh god."******

**Leon**** stumbled, slid a little on the broken glass. "Who is it?"**

**"Oh god Leon."******

**Alyssa.**

**He moved forward, trying to see through the billowing smoke.**

**He could make out Alyssa's red suit. She was crouched over someone's legs.**

**Leon**** got closer and went to his knees when he saw who it was. **

**Claire. Or what was left of her. **

**She'd been cut in half during the crash. Half of her smashed clean away. **

**All that remained was from her hips down.**

**Alyssa looked at his face and started vomiting.**

**He couldn't blame her. He was close to it himself.**

**Claire. He hoped she found peace with her brother.**

**"LEON!"**

**Taylor****.**

**He turned and listened.**

**She was toward the back. He stumbled quickly toward her voice.**

**"Taylor!"**

**"Leon oh god hurry! He's trapped. He's stuck!"**

**Leon**** saw her. She was desperately yanking at an overturned bench. It was collapsed on top of Kevin.**

**Alyssa was with him as they started to pull. It was steel and it was heavy. It took all three of them to pull it off.**

**Taylor was already pulling him forward, into her lap.**

**"Kevin! Kevin!"**

**Alyssa knelt beside him, felt for a pulse.**

**One of the legs on the bench had stabbed through his shoulder, another puncturing clean through his left thigh. He'd been pinned.**

**Taylor was kissing his dirty forehead, stroking his hair, crying.**** "Kevin. Kevin wake up. Wake up."**

**His eyes fluttered.**

**Alyssa said, "He's bleeding badly."**

**David was there, his uniform half hanging off his upper body. He pressed his under shirt against the wound in Kevin's shoulder and Yoko used her jacket to press on his leg.**

**"Kevin! You won't die! Do you hear me!? Wake up!"**

**George said, his voice clouded with pain. "Look at his chest."**

**Leon**** was already looking. Claw marks, along the length of his left side. **

**The monster had gotten him. Kevin was infected.**

**"He's gonna bleed out if we can't stop this."**

**Yoko sounded calm, reasonable but her face was filled with terror.**

**The little girl was standing above them, her face filled with horror.**

**She clutched at the bracelet on her wrist, a nervous gesture. **

**Taylor**** said, "Give him the anti virus."**

**Yoko nodded, reached into her knapsack.**

**Alyssa put her hand on Yoko's arm. "Don't."**

**Everyone looked at her.**

**"We can't stop this bleeding. If we give him the anti-virus, we'll be wasting it." She met Taylor's eyes. "He's gonna die anyway."**

**They stared at each other, each with the same stubborn look in her eyes. **

**Finally, Taylor lifted her hand.**

**She aimed the gun it at Alyssa's face. "Give him the anti-virus. Or you die with him."**

**George said, "Give it to him."**

**Yoko was already pulling it from her knapsack. "It's equipped with a coagulant. It'll stop the bleeding." She looked up. "I don't have any needles. He's gonna have to ingest it."**

**"I won't…take it."**

**Each of them looked at him. His eyes were open, glazed as if from fever but clear.**

**David growled. "You'll take it."**

**"I won't." He lifted his eyes, met Taylor's. "You take it."**

**Yoko said, "But she's not infected."**

**Leon had a moment to stare at her, at the guilt written across her face and then he saw it, the claw marks across her arm.**

**He felt like someone had torn the ground out from beneath him. He sank to his knees.**

**"Taylor…"**

**She looked at him, steadily. "Give it to Kevin."**

**"No." Kevin took Taylor's hand, pressed the gun to his temple. "Help me and finish it."**

**She pulled her hand free, threw the gun. "You want to be a martyr, then die like one." She lifted her hand, "Yoko, give me the anti-virus."**

**Kevin used all his strength to roll away. David helped him sit up.**

**It was hot. So hot. He felt like his skin was trying to burn off of him. **

**He sat in the curve of David's shoulder, burning, burning. "David…help me."**

**David laid a hand on his face. "I don't know if I can."**

**Kevin watched Taylor as she took the vial. She came and knelt in front of him. "You're too fucking noble Kevin Ryman."**

**He lifted a hand, ran it over her cheek. "Love…you." He looked up at Leon.**

**The rookie's face was blank, empty. **

**"Love her."**

**Leon**** nodded. **

**Kevin let his eyes drift closed. He could feel every vein in his body, feel the blood in his head.**

**She said, "I love you." And then she was kissing him, softly.**

**He leaned forward, pressed his mouth against hers and when she pressed harder to deepen the kiss, her met it equally. **

**He thought, "This is how a man should die."**

**Her tongue was in his mouth. Kevin felt his blood heat with something different, something so much better.**

**He gagged, choked as cool liquid poured into his mouth. Taylor pressed harder against his mouth, kissing, still kissing as he struggled.**

**Kevin whimpered as she pulled away.**

**"No."**

**Yoko was touching his face. "It's okay. One sample was designed for two people when ingested. It's okay."**

**He met Taylor's eyes.**

**"You bitch."**

**"You better believe it. Nobody dies for me."**

**Kevin looked up at Leon. The rookie was looking down on him.**

**He said, "You're gonna wanna kick ass my again."**

**Before Leon could ask why, Kevin grabbed Taylor, slid a hand into her hair and kissed her again.**

**She fisted a hand in his shirt and kissed him back.**

**After a long moment, David said, "I'm gonna vomit."**

**Kevin pulled back, grinning. **

**Whatever was in the anti-virus, he felt wonderful, great, spec-fucking-tacular.**

**He looked up at Leon. "You're one lucky bastard."**

**"I know it."**

**Taylor**** stood, smiling. "You're one hell of a kisser, Kevin Ryman."**

**"Yeah.**** You remember that when you're in his bed instead of mine."**

**She smiled brighter.**

**Leon said, quietly, "I'd say that's a problem for another time."**

**Kevin pressed a hand against his chest. "Please. I'm newly risen from the dead."**

**Alyssa said, "You were going to shoot me."**

**Taylor**** looked at her. "You'd have shot me too."**

**"Yeah, you're probably right." Alyssa smirked. "Bitches can smell their own."**

**David was absently rubbing Kevin's back. **

**Kevin thought he should move but he was so tired. Tired of Umbrella, of Leon and Taylor, of everything.**

**Besides, he knew David was happy holding him. **

**Kevin didn't feel right about sort of leading Dave on but sometimes…well it was good to feel loved.**

**So it was awkward again between him and Kennedy. What could he do about it? Pretend that he didn't want her? It wasn't likely to happen. And if she still wanted him too…**

**There was a sound, the crunching of feet just outside the train.**

**Yoko breathed, "When does it end?"**

**Kevin pulled away from David, "Does anyone have a gun?"**

**Shaking heads around the darkness of the train.**

**"Yeah…didn't think so."**

**Crunch.**** Crunch. Crunch.**

**The steps halted. "Hello?"**

**Kevin said, "Barry!?"**

**"Kevin?"**

**A face peering past the fire.**** Shaggy red hair and blue eyes.**

**"Hey Barry."**** Kevin wondered why he wasn't surprised to see the huge man standing there.**

**"CHRIS!"**

**Taylor**** was already running forward.**

**Sure enough, Chris Redfield was in Barry Burton's arms. **

**Kevin had thought he probably looked pretty bad but Chris looked…dead.**

**His face was bruised so badly he was barely recognizable. There were punctures all along his chest and stomach.**

**Yoko whispered, "He's infected."**

**"Not anymore."**

**Another man stepped up beside Barry, carrying Jill.**

**Kevin almost sneered.**

**Albert Wesker was a know-it-all, stick up his ass prick. Admittedly, he was a great leader but the man had never had two words to say to anyone when he wasn't leading.**

**Yoko looked at him.**

**"We collected a few samples of the anti-virus in the lab."**

**She looked surprised.**

**Wesker**** smiled and it looked eerie on his too handsome face in the flicker of fire light. "I guess we have you to thank for synthesizing it."**

**Yoko's cheeks pinked.**

**Kevin thought Wesker's charm was over rated but the ladies seemed to be awed by him.**

**"We gotta move." Barry was looking at Kevin. "You okay?"**

**"Yeah."**** He got to his feet. He was better then okay. He felt…amazing.**

**Taylor**** whispered, "Barry…Claire is…"**

**"I know." Barry looked grim. "We have to go."**

**"Okay." **

**They were all sliding out of the train, sidestepping through the debris, making their way along the dark tunnel.**

**David was helping George.**

**The doctor was in bad shape. His leg was bleeding badly. Kevin knew enough about broken bones to know that if they didn't set his leg soon, he'd be lame for the rest of his life.**

**They seemed to walk forever. The tunnel was never ending.**

**After they left the wreck behind the darkness spread before them, lit only by the halogen lamp that Wesker passed to Yoko.******

**They were down to the .357 Magnum that Barry carried and an Assault Rifle that Wesker had slung over his shoulder.**

**Against the things they had faced, it wasn't enough fire power.**

**Alyssa walked beside Kevin, the sound of her high heels loud in the quiet darkness.**

**He said, "How do you walk in those things?"**

**He could just make out her smirk. "Very carefully."**

**Kevin chuckled. "I'd guess so."**

**"So…are you straight? Or gay? Or what?"**

**A little surprised, he looked at her. "Why do you ask?"**

**"I'm a reporter. We're naturally curious."**

**"Ah." They walked a little longer. "I'm straight."**

**She smirked again. "Uh-huh. I'd say you're on the fence."**

**Kevin laughed again. "Not really. I love women."**

**"And men?"**

**He shrugged. "It's been a long time since I've thought about it."**

**"That's not a no."**

**"It's not a yes either."**

**David said from close behind them. "I'll take a maybe."**

**Kevin smirked. "Dave, you're a stubborn guy."**

**"So I've heard."**

**Alyssa looked at David. "What about you? You swing both ways?"**

**David looked at her, considering. "Why do I think there's something more behind this question?"**

**He caught the suggestion behind her smile. "A girl likes to keep her options open."**

**"Ms. Ashcroft, is that a proposition?"**

**Alyssa grinned. "Why? You interested?"**

**David looked between her and Kevin. "Well…I might be game. Depends on the cop."**

**Kevin thought he'd never heard such a ludicrous conversation in his life. It was amazing what life threatening situations did to people.**

**"Been down that road."******

**Alyssa's eyebrows went up in a mixture of admiration and surprise. "Well…it seems you are on the fence."**

**"Like I said, I've seen both sides of the street."**

**David grinned, wickedly. "And which view was better?"**

**Kevin tried to keep his face blank but Alyssa and David both saw where his gaze went.**

**David smirked. "Uh-huh. That's what I thought."**

**Alyssa, never one to be subtle, said, "You don't seem like the type to pine away over a woman."**

**Kevin sighed. "Love sucks."**

**Yoko said, "I hear ya."**

**He turned, looked at her. **

**She was pacing close beside them. **

**She was hard to pin down. He didn't see her as an Alyssa, ready and willing to go after what she wanted, uncaring who she rolled over on the way there. She didn't seem like a Cindy, seeking love and affection in who's ever arms were there.**

**She was more like Taylor. He pictured her as the type who fell hard and found it impossible to get back out again.**

**From the way she would occasionally glance at Wesker, he figured he knew where that river ran.**

**She couldn't be more then twenty. It made him think even less of Albert Wesker.**

**He lifted his arm, wrapped it around her shoulders. "I'd forget these two horn dogs in a second for you."**

**David scoffed, "You'd never forget me. I'm the best you'll never have."**

**Alyssa laughed, "Hey! That's my line!"**

**Yoko put her arm around Kevin's waist. "You know, if I was in to cops, you might have a chance."**

**He grinned, kissed her forehead. "I think after today, I'm gonna quit."**

**Taylor**** heard their laughter. She and Leon were walking beside each other and yet she felt there'd never been a bigger rift between them.**

**He said, quietly, "It's not gonna work, is it?"**

**It wasn't the time for this conversation but maybe there would never be time. And, just for a moment, it was almost like being normal again.**

**"Leon, I love you."**

**He nodded. "Yeah. You love him too, so that's not a lot of comfort."**

**She said, quietly, "Don't do that. Don't belittle it."**

**"You were willing to die for him."**

**Taylor**** tried to choose her words carefully. "Yes. I love him. I would die for him."**

**She saw the pain in his eyes and hated herself.**

**"Leon…I'd have done the same for you."**

**"I know." He sounded so tired. "Back there, when I saw you were infected…" He was quiet for so long she thought he wasn't going to continue. "You were willing to kill for him."**

**"Leon…" She didn't know what to say.**

**"I'm not sure I can go the rest of my life…." He trailed off. "I don't know how to deal with that."**

**"It's different…"**

**He nodded again. "Yeah. Stupid, boring, stead-fast Leon. He's always there and he's spoiled, so he always gets what he wants."**

**She didn't think she could hate herself any more. "Stop it. Just stop."**

**He looked at her face. "That's what I'm trying to do."**

**She stopped, looked at him. Something close to fear clutched at her chest. "What are you saying?"**

**He met her eyes. "You know what I'm saying."**

**She hated that look, so cold, so hard. It wasn't Leon.**

**"I want to hear it." She felt the tears spring into her eyes and hated them. "I want you to say it."**

**"I won't share you with him."**

**"I never asked you to."**

**He tilted his head, studied her. "Didn't you?"**

**"If you're leaving me, at least have the balls to do it."**

**"I can't leave you, Taylor. You already left me."**

**She felt the pain, it clutched in her stomach like fists. "If you have so little faith in me, maybe you're right. Maybe it would have never worked."**

**Leon**** nodded, briskly. "Yeah. Yeah."**

**He turned and started walking again. If there was something Leon knew how to do, it was walk away.**

**It didn't hurt any less the second time. She thought there was nothing more painful in life then watching someone you loved leave you. Each step like a dagger thrust over and over again into her chest.**

** How could he not understand how much she loved him? How could she live without him?**

**How could it be so easy to just give up?**

**She sucked in a breath and started walking. It didn't matter. It didn't matter.**

**She tripped on the edge of a rail, went to her hands and knees, seeing the darkness of the ground**

**_Get up! GET UP!_******

**She lifted her hand, looked at her palm. It was torn from skidding on the ground, it burned from the gravel. She said, "Fuck." And the broken sound of her voice was too much.**

**She'd survived Raccoon City, survived against monsters and freaks of nature, survived a train wreck, and being poisoned with a deadly virus. She'd lost her best friend, seen friend after friend murdered, slaughtered. She'd held it all together. **

**But a torn hand was too much. She'd chipped three nails. What a waste of money…**

**She put her face in her hands and wept.**

**David was laughing. "You know you're tempted."**

**Kevin looked at him. "Plumbers don't do it for me."**

**David pointed at Alyssa's face. "If you make one crack about being good with pipes, I'll deck you."**

**She snickered. **

**But it was George, limping along, supported by David that surprised them all. **

**"I've seen a lot of plumbers that don't know pipes from a hole in the wall. So Kevin, you probably aren't missing much."**

**Yoko laughed abruptly. "Oh my god George…was that a joke?"**

**The sweaty faced doctor smiled. "Believe it or not, doctors have been known to crack a few every once and awhile."**

**David grinned. "I'm tempted to leave your gimpy ass behind."**

**"That's fine. Just stay away from my pipes."**

**Alyssa snickered again.**

**She and Kevin saw her at the same time.**

**She put a hand on Kevin's arm. "Don't."**

**He looked at Alyssa's face, saw the reproach there. "I'm sorry."**

**He didn't know what he was apologizing for, or who he was apologizing to. Himself? David? Alyssa? **

**It didn't matter anymore. Sorry was worth shit.**

**He let go of Yoko and started walking.**

**David shook his head. "Sucker."**

**Alyssa put her arm around Yoko. "There's one born every minute."**

**Yoko was watching Kevin, saw the moment he increased his speed to a jog.**

**"I think love makes us do stupid things sometimes." She looked at Wesker, felt that old arrow of pain. "Really stupid things that we know are going to do nothing but hurt us in the end."**

**David was watching Kevin. "Guess you can't help who you love."**

**Yoko smiled, sadly, "Amen."**

**Barry, his arms starting to ache a little, looked over at Leon. **

**The rookie's face was closed, angry. **

**"You're a stupid man."**

**Leon looked at him, startled.**

**"Never figured you for a stupid man."******

**Leon clenched his fist, sighed. "What am I supposed to do? She's in love with him."**

**Barry shook his head. "Sure she is. He's handsome, charming, cocky. Fuck she idealized him for so long, of course there's gonna be something there."**

**"How do I compete with that?"**

**Barry figured youth was stupid. It was sort of his job to set them straight.**

**"It ain't a competition kid. She took a bullet for you."**

**Leon**** shook his head. "She was willing to let him have the anti-virus."**

**"So she's noble. That's a good reason to push her away."**

**"A little heavier on the sarcasm there Barry."******

**"Rookie, I don't think you're a slow guy. But I'm gonna spell it out for you anyway. Who's shit is in her house?"**

**Leon**** was silent.**

**"Exactly.**** Now Ryman, he's a good man. Any lady'd be lucky to have him."**

**"Well that helps."**

**Barry ignored him. "You on the other hand are like a spoiled little kid. First sign of trouble, you jump ship. You figure, things ain't goin my way, fuck it. You'll shit all over the best thing to ever happen to you because she doesn't fall into the exact mold you had set out for her. I don't know about you, but that don't sound like love to me."**

**He shifted Chris. "I've been married fifteen years. Sometimes, I wanna strangle my wife. Sometimes, I want to strangle myself. But every single moment, I know I'd die without her." He stopped, look at Leon. "You don't feel that way, then you're doin the right thing by walkin away. But if you do and you walk anyway…" He trailed off, started walking. "Well then you don't deserve her anyway."**

**They walked in silence for a moment. **

**"That it?"**** Leon felt like someone had just slapped him in the face.**

**"Well…besides the fact that you're a fuckin idiot…yeah that's about it."**

**Kevin knelt, afraid to touch her, afraid not to.******

**He said, quietly, "Taylor…please don't."**

**She pulled her hands away from her face. With something close to a sob, she wrapped her arms around him.**

**Kevin stiffened, softened, put his arms around her.**

**He brushed a hand over her hair, hated himself.**

**He stood with her legs about his waist, her arms around his neck. He walked with her clutched around him like a monkey. **

**She whispered, "I'm so sorry."**

**"Don't be."**

**"I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to hurt anyone."**

**"I know."**

**"How is it possible to love you both so much?"**

**Oh god, if only he had the answer.**

**"He's the right man for you." Kevin thought he'd never said anything that hurt so much. "Anyone can see it."**

**"He doesn't want me…not enough…not nearly enough…"**

**He thought he'd never wanted to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill Leon Kennedy.**

**"Then he's a fool." He called himself an idiot and said it anyway. "I would never hurt you."**

**She whimpered, "I wish that was enough."**

**He whispered, "So do I."**

**The tunnel stretched on. There was a suggestion of daylight at the far end.**

**They stepped out into the warmth of the sun. Morning had come, bright and full of both hope and despair.**

** For all the people they'd left behind and for the uncertain future that stretched out before them.**


	13. Thirteen: Menageettoi

**WARNING!!! This chapter is mostly sex…okay it' all sex. As you can tell from the title, there is a threesome. There a lot of man on man/ man on woman action within these words. If you are easily offended by yaoi do not continue. Jello, you're my buddy when it comes to this stuff. If you think this is too much, let me know and there will be  rewrite in the works. **

**I'm going for sexy here! Not trashy!**

**Mwhaahhahah.**

**Thirteen- _Menage-et-toi_**

****

**The bath water was warm, close to boiling. She thought she'd never felt anything so heavenly in her life.**

**It had been a three hour hike from the end of the tunnel to the first major road. Most of it had been made in silence.**

**They were all still wary, still afraid that it wasn't real, that it wouldn't last. **

**She could imagine how they'd looked when they managed to flag down the first car that would stop.**

**A nice married couple with a mini-van.**** The woman had taken one look at them and drove them straight to the hospital.**

**She couldn't blame her.**

**It had taken some maneuvering but they'd managed to avoid getting the police drug into their business.**

**None of them had wanted the paperwork, the hassle.**

**If Umbrella was watching them, the last thing they wanted was a trail.**

**They'd managed to get rooms in a hotel. **

**The subway had taken them pretty far from Raccoon City. They were in West Virginia in a town called Newburg.**

**Albert Wesker had surprised them all by producing unimaginable folds of cash.**

**Since no one had wanted to try to access any bank accounts, they'd thought at first that they were screwed when it came to money.**

**Admittedly, they knew eventually they'd have to break down and get their money. They needed something to move with, something to cover the cost of running.**

**Alyssa had suggested the best thing to do was to leave the country.**

**It was hard to estimate how far Umbrella's reach extended.**

**Through unanimous consent, they'd planned to spend the night in comfort and leave in the morning. **

**Before she'd taken a bath, Taylor had watched the horror of the news cast on t.v.**

**Raccoon had been obliterated. **

**A massive air strike had been launched by Umbrella to counter act the spread of the virus. **

**Of course the company was smart, blaming it on some emergence of a virulent disease, vowing to have their top scientists do everything they could to uncover the source.**

**The city she'd loved, the people she knew, they were all gone.**

**She sank under the water; let the heat of it soak into her skin.**

**It was hard not to think about what they'd all left behind. What was gone forever now.**

**From a safe haven over seas, they'd all sworn to find an end to Umbrella.**

**The soap felt amazing against her skin. Taylor wondered if there'd ever been anything invented that could compare to soap.**

**She wished she could wash the horror away with the filth.**

**She was just slipping on a robe when there was a knock at the door.**

**Tugging her wet hair free from the collar, she walked to the door and opened it.**

**He was dressed in a plain white t-shirt, a pair of gray sweat pants. His hair, dark and damp and clean. He hadn't shaved, the stubble only adding to the power of his face.**

**She leaned on the door jamb, looking at him.**

**"Can I come in?"**

**With a nod, she stepped back.**

**The door clicked closed as she leaned against it.**

**Alone together.******

**The t.v. was on. She'd turned the sound off but left it on. Stupidly, it made her feel not so alone. **

**He turned, faced her.**

**"How're doing?"**

**She combed her fingers through her hair. "Okay actually. Better with a little soap."**

**Kevin smiled. "Yeah. Nothin as good as Dove."**

**Taylor**** thought she'd never wanted to be touched as badly as she did right that minute. **

**He said, "I wanted to…see how you were."**

**She smiled. "I'm alright. How's everyone else?"**

**"Yoko's sleeping. Alyssa and David were restless, they went down to the hotel diner to get something to eat. Jill and Chris are still in critical condition but they're stable." They'd been the only two that had to stay behind at the hospital. "George is in with Yoko, resting. Wesker went to get cigarettes. Barry's making arrangements for his wife and girls to stay in Canada for awhile."**

**It was lucky that they'd been out of town. Like Mark's family….she couldn't think of Mark, of Jim, of Cindy or Claire. She couldn't. Not yet. **

**"Sherry?" Taylor shifted, a little uncomfortable with how badly she wanted to touch him.**

**"She's in Leon's room. He had to give her some NyQuil. She was having nightmares."**

**Taylor**** felt bad for the little girl. She was too small to understand what had happened, too old to forget it over time. An awkward enough age under normal circumstances, she'd be lucky if she could ever live a normal life.**

**They'd be lucky if any of them could.**

**"And what about you?"**** She ran her hand along the terry cloth sleeve of her robe. "How are you doing?"**

**Kevin shrugged, looked toward the window.**

**"Okay. Great. Shitty." He smiled, crookedly. It didn't reach his eyes. "All of the above."**

**Taylor stepped toward him, hesitated, took another step.**

**She felt the muscles in his back clench as she laid her hand against it.**

**"Kevin?" She thought her throat might close up.**

**"Yeah…" His voice, harsh, gruff.**

**"Touch me." **

**He turned, her arm sliding over him, resting on his hip.**

**He looked down into her face, a drowning man.**

**"Taylor…"**

**"Don't. It can't be about anything else right now. Just touch me. Because you want to. Because I need you to."**

**He lifted his hands, slid them over her shoulders, down her arms.**

**She took his face in her hands. "Don't think. Just touch me."**

**Kevin stared into her face and she saw the moment he gave it all up.**

**His hands slid down her chest, over the knot in her robe. He watched her eyes while he untied it, parted it, brushed his fingers over the dampness of her belly.**

**Her eyes fluttered, her breath caught.**

**He saw what he wanted in her face and slid his hands around her back, over her buttocks and pulled her against him. **

**She could feel the press of him, hard and hot against her stomach. The sweatpants were soft, the cloth hiding nothing.**

**He slid himself against her, the friction of the clothes over flesh agonizing, wonderful. With a groan, he closed his eyes, pressed his forehead against hers.**

**Taylor slid her hands into his hair, pushed against him.**

**There was a knock on the door.**

**They parted slowly, her fingers trailing over him through the soft cotton. **

**Kevin shuddered, pressed his mouth against hers, slowly, softly.**

**Taylor**** tied her robe. **

**She went to the door, opened it.**

**She thought her body would explode.**

**Leon stood there, red hair soft and dry and ruffled, just hanging over his forehead. There was such softness in his eyes, such pain. Without words, she could see the apology, could feel it. And just like that, she forgave him. She would always forgive him.**

**She took his hand, tugged him into the room.**

**She knew the moment they saw each other. **

**There was silence, complete and pregnant; full of things unsaid.**

**For the first time in a long time, she wasn't afraid.**

**Leon**** wore a white under shirt and a pair black of sweat pants similar to Kevin's. **

**She turned, slid her hands under Leon's shirt, and brushed her fingers over his nipples.**

**He hissed, tore his gaze from Kevin, and looked into her face.**

**He needed her. Leon tilted his head down and kissed her.**

**Their mouths pressed, tongues twining. He bent, slid his arms under her butt and lifted, until she was even with him.**

**There was the sound of heavy breathing.**

**Taylor**** moved back, her heart racing. She took his hand and led him with her.**

**For the first time in his life, Leon didn't want to walk away.**

**With one hand in Leon's, she opened her other.**

**Kevin looked at her, at Leon. He knew an offer when he saw one. Even Kennedy was watching him, waiting.**

**Kevin took her hand.**

**Taylor**** smiled, softly, seductively and Kevin knew he was sunk.**

**She turned into Kevin, slid her hands under his shirt and he lifted his arms as she slid it off of him.**

**_Am I doing this? Do I want to?_**

**He looked into her eyes and knew he'd never wanted anything more.**

**She pressed her mouth to his chest, slid her tongue over the dip in his collarbone. Kevin shivered, slid a hand into her hair as his eyes closed.**

**Her hands found the tie on his sweat pants, slid them down over his hips.**

**He watched her, lifted his eyes. **

**Leon was watching him, the laser blue of his eyes alight. Kevin didn't see any jealousy there, any hatred. There was passion, curiosity.**

**Taylor stood slowly, trailing a hand up his thigh, over the heaviness of his sac. Kevin jerked against her hand, gasping.**

**With a siren's smile, she trailed her nails over his stomach and turned.**

**Leon met her mouth hungrily, one hand already skimming down her chest, unknotting the robe so he could reach inside and he could cup her. **

**She moaned, her thighs quivering. She was already damp, already hot.**

**Her hands grappled with his clothing, worked the under shirt over his head while she sucked at his throat, bit lightly along his left nipple.**

**With something close to a groan, Leon cupped her breast, shaped it in his palm, his fingers plucking at tight peak of her nipple.**

**Taylor**** murmured, slid her mouth down his stomach and his body jerked, his head falling back as her deft hands had his pants falling around his ankles.**

**The heat of her mouth around him had him crying out, softly, one had fisting in her hair.**

**Hands skimmed over her back, slid along her sides as she drew on him, her tongue slipping along the head of his cock and farther down until he was buried completely in her mouth.**

**Kevin pressed himself against her, sliding against the softness of her back, as his hand found her, caressed the silky damp of her body. **

**Taylor moaned, the hum of pleasure causing Leon to groan, and push himself against the clever sweetness of her mouth.**

**She pulled away, rising as Kevin's fingers found the aching point of her desire. She clenched, a cry falling from her lips as she pressed her body back against him, one arm looping around his neck.**

**Leon stepped into her, his mouth capturing hers, one hand in her hair as they tongues twined, slid together even as Kevin's fingers slid into her body, over the tiny hardened nub of her agony.**

**Leon pushed the robe down her shoulders, dipped his head and took one of her nipples into the silken prison of his mouth. She gripped his hair with one hand, felt Kevin move back long enough to let the robe drop to the floor before he surged himself against her back again, his hand already caressing her, fingers sliding over, through.**

**Taylor felt her body heating, felt the rapid wave of desire that crashed sharply through her blood.**

**Leon pressed her breasts together, slid his mouth rapidly between her nipples, took her mouth again. **

**Kevin's fingers tortured her, so skillful, so maddening. **

**She panted, writhed, turned her head to take Kevin's mouth as his hand slid upward, and cupped her breast. Leon was on his knees, his hands on her thighs, parting her.**

**His tongue sliding in her, over her, against the pulsing apex of her body.**** She shuddered, felt him gripping her thighs, supporting the trembling, liquid weight of her body.**

**The hard, hot length of Kevin as he rubbed himself along her back, along the soft cleft of her butt cheeks as his hands tortured her breasts, pinched, molded. His mouth slid over her throat and he was kissing her again, tongues dueling.**

**Taylor screamed, her body bowing, caught on the rise of a shining wave. She tumbled, shuddering, screaming into the mouth of the man who drank from her lips as the other drank from the heat of her body.**

**For a moment, her body quaked as she made the slow, lethargic rise back to sanity. Never in her life had she felt something that amazing, that mind blowing.**

**She felt gloriously, hopelessly, desperately _alive._**

**Leon was rising, the glisten of her still on his lips. She lay half cradled in Kevin's arms.**

**She slid her hand over Leon's hip, tugged him forward as she stepped to the side. **

**She trailed her fingers up Kevin's torso, saw the burning passion there and whispered, "Kiss him."**

**Because she wanted them to.**** Because she knew Kevin wanted to taste her on Leon's mouth.**

**She looked at Leon's face and saw curiosity there, interest. Her heart beat wildly in her chest.**

**Kevin stepped forward, warily, hungrily and Taylor was afraid she'd faint from the sight of two beautiful, naked, virile men so close to each other.**

**He lifted his mouth and pressed it, softly against Leon's.**

**She watched, fascinated, impossibly aroused.**

**Leon's eyes were wide, something close to terror in them. Kevin lifted a hand, skimmed it over Leon's shoulder, into the softness of his hair. He tilted the other man's head, slid his tongue over Leon's lips.**

**He watched Leon's eyes, saw the reluctant desire that sparked there. It was the same desire Kevin felt himself.**

**He took Leon's face, cupped it, and pressed harder against his mouth.**

**For a moment, Leon stood, impossibly still and then his mouth parted, a trembling sigh and he leaned into the other man, mouth sliding over his, lost.**

**Taylor**** thought she'd never seen anything so wonderful.**

**Their heads pressed together, lips and tongue working as they tasted, as they craved.**

**With something close to a whimper, Taylor stepped toward them, took a handful of each of their hair and kissed them in turn. **

**Leon**** shifted his body, slid an arm under her hips, and lifted her, carrying her to the bed.**

**She grabbed a handful of the muscle of his back; saw the sparks of white hot desire in his eyes. Leon didn't mind a little pain. It was startling and so totally arousing.**

**She laid him back against the mattress, scored her nails down his chest, over the delicate bruising on his ribs, the pinking wound near his arm pit. Leon jerked, a startled cry of desire falling from his lips.**

**Kevin slid onto the bed beside them, one hand slipping down Leon's chest, over his hips until he was cupping him, his hand sliding along the length of Leon's body, gentle, harder.**

**Leon jerked his hips, his head falling back as a strangled cry tore from his throat.**

**Taylor crawled onto all fours, gripped the head board as Leon slid against her back, running his lips over her spine, his hands on her hips, lifting her.**

**She whispered, "Yes."**

**And he shoved himself into her.**

**She whimpered, screamed. Kevin lay beside them, one hand tracing over the curve of her stomach, the side of her breast.**

**She met his mouth, slid her tongue over his and felt her body spiraling. She said groaned, "Fuck him." And she came, screaming.**

**Lost, Leon surged his body through her, felt her clench as she came. He curled himself over her back, hips shoving as he felt her start to go up again, heard the quickening of her breath. The head board slammed against the wall.**

**Hands on his back, sliding down the length of his spine, along the curve of his butt.**** Leon felt like his blood was on fire, he couldn't think, could only feel.**

**Wet, tight, she milked him, drew him in as her cries grew hoarse with pleasure.**

**Kevin slid onto the bed, his body raging, his heart racing. He wanted to…He needed to.**

**He pressed himself against Leon, felt the other man push back against him, just slightly as he hammered into Taylor. Leon was groaning, sweat ran in a fine line down his face, along his chest.**

**He gripped her breasts in his hands, laid his cheek along her back.**

**Kevin slid his hand downward, cupped Leon's sac in his hand, kneaded.**

**Leon cried out, body surging, surging, surging.**

**And then Kevin couldn't hold back anymore. He mounted him, slid his hands over Leon's hips.**

**Taylor**** was lost, spiraling. She heard the sound of her screams, felt her body spinning, faster, faster.**

**Leon cried out, suddenly impossibly hard inside of her. The sheer size of him stretched her, aroused her to the final edge of a reason. She fell screaming into the darkness.**

**Kevin pushed himself forward, hips thrusting. So tight, so tight.**

**Their cries blended, man and woman, a chorus of pleasure, a symphony. A crescendo that built and wavered and rushed toward a mindless explosion.**

**Leon was full, so full, his body was on fire burning from everywhere.**

**He felt Kevin inside him, felt Taylor around him and he screamed, spilling himself inside her. **

**Kevin felt Taylor jerking, felt Leon's body tighten with release and gave himself up, groaning as the warmth of his body spilled, thick and wet into the other man.**

**They collapsed with each, Taylor between them, Kevin's arm at her hips, Leon's over her chest, his head at her shoulder. **

**She held them, listened to the erratic sound of their breathing, the harsh, heavy thump of her heart. And she smiled while her eyes drifted closed, content, and replete.**


	14. FourteenUpon Waking

**Short and sweet.**** This chapter is all about…dun dun dun…DRAMA. oO**

**Fourteen- Upon waking…**

**He kept his face under the spray. He waited for the water to get under his skin, inside of him. He waited, hoping, it would wash away some of the confusion, of the budding shame.**

**He wanted to be disgusted, embarrassed, angry at himself but he was none of those things and that's where the shame came from.**

**He'd grown up surrounded by love, showered with affection. His father, the Chief of Police in Boston, had been a man's man. He'd taught his son how to play football, how to woo the ladies, how to drive just fast enough to have fun without being dangerous. **

**His mother, a respected surgeon, had taught her son sensitivity, how to tend to himself and treat a woman with respect. **

**They'd been catholic, they'd been giving and kind and wonderful.**

**They'd preached abstinence and sex only with boundaries, with a woman, with love and marriage and children. **

**He wasn't a virgin, hell, he hadn't been a virgin since he'd turned eighteen, graduated high school and got in all the sex he could before joining the service. **

**But he'd always followed their guidelines. He'd never used a woman, never abused a woman, and never-NEVER looked at a man as anything more then a friend.**

**In one night, he'd thrown everything he knew, everything he was raised to believe, out like garbage.**

**He'd betrayed their teaching, their faith in him.**

**And he'd LOVED it. **

**Leon**** pushed his fingers through his hair; embraced the shame. **

**In a way, it was good. He wasn't so far gone that he'd forgotten everything he'd grown up believing. **

**He'd look at her face, so open, so perfect and he'd fallen. It was a simple as that.**

**He didn't like the idea of being corny, of being cliché. But he'd have done anything for her. **

**Barry had told him he wasn't a stupid man. Leon knew that the choice to be with Kevin, to be with another man, had been all his. **

**At the time, in the moment, it had been right, it had FELT right. **

**Maybe, just maybe, that was enough.**

**It hadn't had anything to do with Taylor, not really, not completely. **

**He was straight but he was human.**

**If there was one thing Leon Kennedy knew how to do, it was rationalize something. **

**To have someone look at him like that, like both of them had…he'd felt like he could move mountains, like they saw something he would never see in himself.**

**There was a rustling behind him, the slide of a door opening, and hands on his chest.**

**Leon**** accepted the fact that, for a moment, he wondered which one of them it was.**

**She turned him and the water beat against his back, soothing and wet.**

**She must have seen something on his face because she said, "Don't. Please don't."**

**Leon**** wondered what was written across his features to put such a look on her face. As if she expected him to run.**

**He couldn't blame her. He'd spent a good portion of their relationship running. He figured Barry Burton was one of the smartest men alive. He'd hit the nail on the head with everything he'd said.**

**Leon**** lifted his hands, skimmed them through her hair, and kissed her.**

**One thing hadn't changed, he was crazy about her.**

**Taylor**** felt the tension unknot in her chest. She'd woke with Kevin's arms around her, her face buried in his chest. **

**When she'd seen Leon's wrinkled side of the bed, she'd known a moment of panic. **

**It had lessened when she'd heard the shower and remembered that he had always been an early riser.**

**When she'd stepped into the shower, seen him slightly huddled, seen the warring confusion in his eyes, she'd thought it was the end, she'd lost him.**

**She met the kiss equally, embraced the warmth in it.**

**When they parted, they were both smiling.**

**She traced his mouth with her finger tips. "Hey you."**

**Leon cupped her face, kissed her again, briefly. "Good morning."**

**She bent, picked up the shampoo, and circled her finger for him to turn.**

**With a grin, he gave her his back, crouched a little so she could reach him, and let her wash his hair.**

**"What time is it?"**

**She loved the softness, the texture, the color of his hair. "It's a little after five."**

**He nodded, yawned. "You're up early."**

**"So are you." She skimmed her soapy fingers over his shoulders, his arms. "How do you feel?"**

**He turned, looked at her. Such a broad question.**

**"Sore."**

**She smirked a little and he saw the sweet pinkness of a blush on her cheeks. "Well…"**

**He grinned, wrapped his arms around her. "Hah. There's the girl I know. Not exactly a siren after all, huh?"**

**Taylor**** giggled and it lifted his heart to hear it. "If it's any consolation, I think I'm bowlegged now."**

**He wiggled his brows. "Well, My mom always told me, if you can't do anything right…"**

**She grinned again, slid her hands down his back, and cupped his ass. "I think we did quite a few things right last night."**

**"Hmm…" He bent his head and the kiss wasn't sweet, it was heated. "I think I might want to try again…"**

**Her words were breathy. "Practice makes perfect."**

**"Indeed." Their tongues slid together, the sound of the water punctuated by the rising pant of their breathing.**

**There was a sound, intrusive, loud.**

**Leon**** yelped, "Shit."**

**Someone had flushed the toilet. **

**He danced sideways and Taylor squealed at the scalding water.**

**The shower door slid open; Kevin poked his head in, grinning. "Good morning horn dogs."**

**Taylor**** squealed, "Kevin!"**

**Leon**** was laughing. "You prick."**

**Kevin snickered. "I'd like to think so. Can I come in? Or is this a two person party?"**

**Taylor**** rolled her eyes. "I don't think there's room in here for you."**

**Kevin's pout was too adorable. **

**With a sigh, she said, "Come on then. But no funny stuff."**

**He grinned, climbed into the shower. "I think funny stuff was happening while I pissing."**

**Leon**** smirked. "Yeah, thanks for interrupting. I was about to get lucky."**

**Taylor**** smacked him in the chest. "You get plenty lucky last night."**

**He lifted a shoulder, "Can't blame a guy for trying."**

**They all bumped bodies as they shifted;  tried to move around in the too small shower.**

**Taylor**** was laughing.**

**"Okay. I think I'm just getting dirtier."**

**Kevin whistled. "Well I like my women dirty."**

**She snickered. **

**Leon**** was pressed up against the wall. "Okay. I'm getting out of this sardine can. Kevin's too fat. There's no room."**

**Kevin pouted. "You didn't think I was too fat last night."**

**Leon**** rolled his eyes chuckled. "Well pencils are usually skinny."**

**Taylor**** laughed again, loudly. "Ouch."**

**"That was low Kennedy." But Kevin was grinning like an idiot.**

**Leon stepped out of the shower, laughing.**

**Taylor**** stepped under the spray; let Kevin wash her hair. "So…"**

**He tilted her head, rinsed the soap out her long tresses. "So what?"**

**"So how do you feel?"**

**He grinned at her. "About what?"**

**"Don't be a goof."**

**"Ohh…well I think the shampoo's a little harsh myself."**

**"Kevin…"**

**He hugged her, blew a raspberry on her neck, and had her giggling.**

**"Actually I feel great."**

**"You sound surprised."**

**He shrugged, began washing himself as she scrubbed his back. "Honestly…it wasn't the first time for me."**

**Her hands stilled and he glanced over his shoulder at her. Her expression was comic.**

**"What?"**

**She shook her head, face in helpless lines of amusement. "You're full of surprises."**

**"Why? Because I've been in a threesome? Or because I've fucked another man before?" He watched her face while he asked, delighted at the heavy blush on her cheeks.**

**She was adorable. **

**Taylor**** felt faint from embarrassment. She knew he was candid. Between him and Leon, Kevin certainly wasn't the one to beat around any bushes…well at least with words.**

**She giggled at herself and Kevin turned, took her in his arms.**

**"Does that bother you?"**

**"What?"**

**"That it wasn't my first time."**

**"No." She lifted her hands, traced his face. How had she ever thought he and Leon were similar? "You were…" She searched for the right word.**

**"Experienced?"**

**"Well that too. But that's not the word I was searching for."**

**"Eager?"**

**She snickered.**

**"Desirable? Masculine? Hung like a horse?"**

**She laughed, wrapped her arms around his neck. "All of the above."**

**He winked at her, locked his arms around her waist and looked into her eyes. **

**She saw his mood shift, felt him brush her stomach and whispered, "Ah…there's the word…"**

**"What's that?"**

**"Insatiable."**

**"Ahh yes."**** He grinned, lowered his head. **

**The heard it at the same time. Kevin said, "Uh-uh." And pushed her just as the toilet flushed.**

**The water just barely scalded him.**

**He yelled, "Nice try, you jerk."**

**Yoko's voice came through the shower door. "Oh my god! Leon said no one was in here."**

**Kevin and Taylor looked at each other and started laughing.**

**…..**

**Kevin came out of the shower whistling, a towel around his waist.**

**Leon**** was sitting in one of the easy chairs by the window. **

**Yoko, her face pink, was sitting on the bed beside David.**

**Kevin took one look at his face and figured he was in for it.**

**Leon****, his eyebrows raised, propped his foot on the nightstand. Kevin wanted to slap the amused expression off his face.**

**Yoko said, face down, "We wanted to see if Leon and Taylor wanted to go to breakfast."**

**Kevin propped his shoulder on the wall, his eyes on David. "What? You expected Kennedy to be here but not me?"**

**Yoko kicked her feet, shrugged. "Well..uh.."**

**Kevin and David stared at each other.**

**Kevin was trying to get a read on the other man's mood. But, like usual, David's face was blank. Angry? Amused? He couldn't tell.**

**Yoko coughed once, cleared her throat. "So…you guys all slept here last night…"**

**Poor Yoko, Kevin thought her face was going to burn off.**

**Leon, dressed in his tank top, his sweat pants, said, "Yep."**

**Yoko nodded, looked at the bed, and stood up abruptly. Kevin tried not to smile at the shock on her face.**

**David remained sitting.**

**Kevin looked at him again and decided the plumber was seriously pissed.**

**He said, "Yoko, Leon, would you mind giving us a minute?"**

**Leon shrugged, got to his feet, "Taylor?"**

**She stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in Kevin's shirt and pair of cotton shorts. "Hmm?"**

**"We're gonna go grab some grub. You up for it?"**

**She summed up the air in the room in approximately six seconds. "Yep." **

**She smiled at Yoko, wanting to put the poor girl at ease. "Hey Yoko. That color is great on you." Yoko was wearing a bright orange sweater.**

**"Hey Taylor."**** Yoko seemed grateful for the topic change "Thanks."**

**Leon**** looped his arm over Yoko's shoulders and did the same to Taylor. "We'll give you two ladies a moment."**

**Kevin smirked, David glared.**

**When the door shut, Kevin said, "Alright Dave. Enough with the silent treatment. Out with it."**

**David stood, slowly. "You lying bitch."**

**Ah, Kevin thought, there it is. He'd been waiting for that.**

**He cocked a brow. "Well…don't try to spare my feelings. Tell me how you really feel."**

**"Not into the man scene, huh?"******

**Kevin looked at him, considering. "Dave, don't take this the wrong way, but this isn't really any of your business."**

**David straightened. "Oh you're right. It doesn't matter that you know I'm in love with you or that, just yesterday, you basically blew me off with some shit about not being into men really. Then pretty boy shakes his skinny little white ass at you, and you're suddenly Captain Butt Pirate."**

**Kevin's eyebrows lifted. "I missed the part where that made it your business."**

**David's cheeks were red with anger. "Are you deaf? Or are all cops just stupid? I'm in love with you."**

**Kevin said, quietly, "I heard you."**

**"Doesn't that mean anything?"**

**Kevin shook his head, prayed for patience. "David, I've always been straight with you."**

**David scoffed. "Straight. What an ironic word to use."**

**Kevin crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't have time for this shit. In a way, you and Kennedy are a lot alike. He's a spoiled baby too."**

**"Sure but you fucked him anyway."**

**Kevin shook his head, walked past David to where his clothes lay, nicely folded on the dresser. He figured that was Yoko's doing.**

**He could basically feel David behind him, two steps away from losing it.**

**If there was one thing the plumber hated, it was being dismissed.**

**Kevin said, "Do you mind? I need to get dressed."**

**Kevin grunted as his back hit the wall, hard enough his bruised ribs ached. **

**David had an arm across his chest, pinning him in place.**

**He'd felt a little bad about David being hurt by everything that happened but this was pushing it.**

**Kevin sneered, "Get off me. Right now."**

**David put his face close, teeth bared. "Or what?"**

**Kevin felt the anger surface, white hot. "You don't want to find out. Trust me."**

**David's sneer turned into an evil smile. He said, and they were close enough that Kevin felt the rumble of David's chest, "Yeah. I figured you for the type that likes it rough."**

**Kevin pushed but David was surprisingly strong, he shoved him back against the wall, laughing.**

**"You got two seconds to get the fuck off me."**

**"Or what cop? What're you gonna do? Arrest me?"**

**Kevin snarled, lifted his hands and shoved. David was laughing, toying with him.**

**Furious, Kevin growled. "You son of a bitch!" **

**David easily dodged the fist, grabbed Kevin's hand, shoved it hard above his head.**

**David moved close, his mouth just above Kevin's. "Your towels slipping."**

**He was grinning like a shark as he shifted a little closer to the other man. Kevin felt the towel fall, heard the sound of it pooling on the floor.**

**Enraged, he hissed. "I'm giving you one chance to walk out of here. We're friends. In about two seconds, we're gonna be enemies."**

**David grinned. "Sometimes it's better that way." And kissed him.**

**Kevin growled, turned his head. David was laughing again.**

**"You gonna be shy now?"**

**"Don't do this, Dave. I don't want to hurt you."**

**David laughed. "I'm tougher then I look." **

**Kevin kicked him, hard in the knee.**

**There was the sound of growling, a crash of something breaking.**

**Outside the door, Alyssa paused, eyebrows raised.**

**She put her ear against the door.**

**Inside, David, his mouth bleeding, had Kevin on his back on the bed, his arms pinned over his head, his legs trapped by David sitting on them.**

**He was grinning.**

**"Bet you thought being a cop made you stronger."**

**Kevin, his nose gushing, spat blood at the other man. "You know, trying to rape me isn't the way to get me to love you."**

**David scoffed, ran his free hand down the other man's torso. "I'm just showing you what you're missing."**

**"What? A broken nose?"**

**David, still smiling, slid his hand over Kevin, watched his face. **

**Kevin spat, between gritted teeth, "I'm gonna fucking kill you."**

**David moved his hand, slowly, expertly along his shaft. "Are you? I bet you're not."**

**Disgusted, Kevin felt his body leap to attention. **

**David licked his lips. "Yeah. That's what I thought."**

**Alyssa, her eyes wide, was trying not to giggle. This was priceless, she had to be the luckiest woman alive. She wondered if she should knock, interrupt. But her excitement kept her ear glued to the door.**

**She heard more cursing. Kevin calling David a twisted fuck. David growling something unintelligible in that deep voice.**

**Then, bless her lucky heart, she heard the panting. **

**She tried to figure out who it was. From the fact that the person was cursing the whole time, she figured it was Kevin.**

**Then she heard the laughter. It was David. **

**Yeah, definitely Kevin cursing.******

**There was a rustle, a rather loud exclamation of "You fucker!", and David's dark laughter again.**

**She waited until she heard silence and then she knocked.**

**David answered the door, drying his hands on a towel.**

**She tried to keep her face blank. "Hey I heard some commotion in here…everything okay?"**

**Alyssa glanced over David's shoulder. Kevin, naked, was sitting on the edge of the bed, his face in his hands.**

**David smiled at her, congenially. "Everything's fine. Kevin and were just having a disagreement."**

**She couldn't help the smile. "Oh yeah. Who won?"**

**David tossed the dishtowel across the room, it landed on the bed. Kevin looked at it and cursed, darkly.**

**David smiled. "I did."**

**…..**

**Yoko brushed a hand through her hair. It was so short. She wasn't sure if she liked it.**

**The reflection that stared back was so different.**

**"You should have left it long."**

**Startled, she looked toward the door of the restroom. Wesker was leaning against it, watching her.**

**She felt her face flame. "You always said it got in the way."**

**He'd gotten new clothes. These were black, of course, but the shirt was a little tighter, over the arms. She'd always loved his arms.**

**"When it hid you face from me. But I liked having my hands full of it."**

**She whispered, "I know." It was why she'd cut it. She didn't want to be reminded of him. Now or ever.**

**He said, quietly, "Contacts."**

**She nodded. "Yeah."**

**He took a step toward her. "You left me."**

**She lifted her head, looked at him. There was nothing on his face, there seldom ever was. Once, after they'd loved each other, she thought she'd seen something in his eyes. Love? She didn't know. But it had been fierce.**

**He was wearing those sunglasses. She HATED those sunglasses. **

**He seldom was without them.**

**Sometimes, while they'd be making love, she'd have to jerk them off his face, so she could see his eyes. **

**His eyes were always incredibly blue. If his face was blank, those eyes were always full of things. It was one of the things that made her realize he was human.**

**She said, "I didn't leave you."**

**He was closer now, a foot away, studying her. **

**It was the same way he studied a particle under a microscope, intense, almost…deadly.**

**She shivered. "You…" She trailed off. "You and Birkin…you were…" She couldn't remember.**

**Horrified, she looked at him. Why couldn't she remember?**

**He was too close.**

**She pressed back against the sink.**

**He caught some of her hair between his fingers. "We were what?"**

**Desperately, she struggled for some kind of memory, some fragment. She'd run…from what?**

**She whispered, "I can't remember."**

**He lifted a hand, lowered the sunglasses, and looked at her over the edge of them.**

**She felt something shift inside her. It was harder to remember…harder to think.**

**He lowered his head and kissed her.**

**Startled, she lifted a hand, laid it on his chest.**

**She didn't want to kiss him; he and Birkin had…had what? He smelled so good, like peaches and…something exotic. He'd never use anything store bought. **

**His mouth slid against hers. She opened, out of habit, out of desire.**

**The bathroom door opened.**

**Yoko tried to move back, startled but Wesker had a hand on her arm. **

**He turned his head, smiled. That smile still made Yoko's knees weak.**

**Taylor stood there, looking startled.**

**He said, "Hi. Could we have a minute?"**

**Yoko's mind was yelling. She didn't want to be alone with him. Did she?**

**Taylor**** was already nodding, turning and quickly leaving.**

**Yoko said, "I need to…go."**

**"In a minute."**** He kissed her again, a little harder this time. **

**There was possession in that kiss, soul stealing, mind-numbing possession. Yoko whimpered and kissed him back.**

**He said, against her ear. "You're mine, Yoko."**

**She whimpered again, torn between fear and passion. It was common when she was with him. **

**"You won't run from me again."**

**She shook her head. "No."**

**He slid his mouth over hers, gentle this time. He had her compliance. He was happy.**

**He drew back, patted her cheek. "I hate that sweater."**

**She was already nodding. "I'll get rid of it."**

**"Good." He walked toward the door. "I'll be waiting."**

**"I'll hurry."**

**The door closed behind him.**

**Yoko leaned on the sink, breathing. She was afraid, she was aroused…she was in love with him.**

**Her pale face stared back at her.**

**He'd never hurt her. Not physically. **

**When he touched her, he was always so gentle. But she was afraid of him.**

**He'd…He'd…what?! She couldn't remember! **

**And that scared her even more.**

**…..**

**David slid into the booth; wrapped an arm around Alyssa.**

**Across from them, Leon and Taylor were the perfect mirror.**

**Taylor**** said, "Where's Kevin?"**

**David looked at her, hated himself, and said it anyway. "He's probably washing himself off."**

**Alyssa choked on her juice.**

**Leon**** halted with his pancake bite halfway to his mouth.**

**Taylor****'s smile slipped. **

**David mentally cursed himself. He didn't want to come off like a bitch.**

**Alyssa was cleaning her shirt with a napkin. She looked at David with reproach.**

**Taylor said, quietly, "I see." She looked at David. "Is there something you want to say to me?"**

**Alyssa was pinching his leg under the table.**

**David, unable to help himself, still riding on the wings of his victory over Kevin, said, "I think you don't know how to treat a man like a man."**

**Taylor**** set down her water. "Really? And you do?"**

**Alyssa was twisting his skin. Through gritted teeth, David said, "I don't know. Why don't you ask Kevin?"**

**Leon****'s fork clattered to the table.**

**Taylor**** was already standing. "I'm not hungry anymore."**

**She stood. "Excuse me please."**

**David cursed when she walked out. He was a bitch. **

**Leon**** was looking at him. David, mad at himself, decided to take it out on the rookie.**

**"What? You get one stiff dick in the ass and you think you're an expert now?"**

**Alyssa was gaping at him, horrified.**

**David felt like an ass but he couldn't seem to control himself.**

**Leon**** just smiled, patronizing. "Dude. You are one sore loser."**

**David sneered. "Speaking of sore, how's the butthole?"**

**An old couple, a few booths over, looked at them, disgusted.**

**Alyssa hissed, "David…god."**

**Leon**** grinned. "Great thanks. Nice and used."**

**David's face was on fire with anger. "Fuck you, pig."**

**Leon**** leaned forward. "I think Kevin beat you there."**

**Alyssa's threw up her hands. "Fine. Act like bitches. I'm out of here."**

**Leon**** shook his head. "Don't bother. You guys enjoy your breakfast." He slid out of the booth.**

**Alyssa waited until he'd walked out the door of the diner before she elbow David, hard in the ribs. "Christ on crutch."**

**He rubbed his side. "What?"**

**"You fucking fish wife. What was that about?"**

**Embarrassed, he took her juice. "I dunno."**

**"Next time, how about some warning before the inner bitch decides to surface?"**

**David pouted, angry at himself. **

**…..**

**Kevin laid his head against the wall.**

**He was supremely pissed and, admittedly, embarrassed as hell.**

**It had been pathetically easy for the plumber to manipulate him. Sad really.**

**His body had boiled and exploded. Just like that. A few well placed strokes and…that was it.**

**He bumped his head on the wall, cursing himself.**

**The door opened.**

**Taylor stood there, watching him.**

**All it took was the look on her face and he knew the plumber had taken his victory dance all over her.**

**He lifted a hand, at a loss.**

**She shook her head, "Don't. You don't owe me a damn thing."**

**She walked toward the bathroom and stopped. The towel was lying there on the sink. **

**Kevin moved quickly, snatched it up, tossed it in the trash. **

**Her face was blank.**

**He touched her arm.**

**"Don't."**

**He let his hand fall.**

**Taylor**** turned, faced him. "David's in the diner. Go eat something." She stood for a moment. "Unless you already had breakfast."**

**That hurt. He clenched his hand.**

**"You said it once, you don't own me."**

**She met his eyes. "You're absolutely right."**

**Fuck. He was angry, he wanted to fight. She was being so cold.**

**She was brushing her teeth, ignoring him. She spit delicately into the sink.**

**He grabbed her arms. The toothbrush clattered into the sink.**

**"Yell at me."**

**She met his gaze, saw the anger, the shame and didn't care. "No."**

**"I deserve it."**

**Taylor looked at him, met his gaze equally. "You want me to yell at you, so you can get angry at me, self righteous. Tell me I'm not your girlfriend that we got no ties." She kept her voice even. "Let's save us both the time."**

**Kevin felt his anger turning, crumbling. "Hit me."**

**She shook her head, sadly. "No."**

**His hands gentled on her arms. "Taylor…"**

**"Don't okay? You don't have to say anything. David already said it all." She stepped away from him. "In a way, he's right. I don't deserve you. I don't treat you the way you deserve to be treated."**

**"Fuck him." He followed her out of the bathroom. "He's a prick. Don't listen to a word his says."**

**She shook her head. "He's right. Obviously, he knew what you wanted."**

**Kevin, a little desperate, took her arms again, stared into her face earnestly. "I want you."**

**She glanced at the trash. "Kevin…I'm not sure what I thought was going to happen. The three of us…we couldn't go on indefinitely. You and Leon, you're both too stubborn, both too…" She struggled for the word. "Good. Eventually it would come to blows again."**

**"Last night…" She trailed off, sighed, "I don't know how to choose between you."**

**Kevin was shaking his head, "Don't. I'm not asking you to. Last night, god, I felt…" He wasn't a man who was good with words and, right at that moment, he hated it.**

**She smiled, sadly. "It was wonderful."**

**"Yeah."******

**She kissed his cheek. "I can't ask either of you to go on forever like that. Waiting."**

**He pulled her into his arms. "I don't want David." That was almost a lie. Part of him wanted David. But not enough of him. Not nearly enough.**

**She seemed torn and he hated it.**

**"Kevin…David came in here and you forgot about me."**

**"No." He took her face. "No I didn't. I could never forget you."**

**"I can't blame you. Hell, I can't even stay angry at you. I'm asking you to share me with another man. I shouldn't have any room to object to you doing the same."**

**He was shaking his head. "I don't want to be with David."**

**The look on her face said she didn't believe him.**

**"Listen," He struggled for the words. "David is…he represents something that I don't want. I'm attracted to him." He studied her face. "I want you. I don't know how else to say it. Whatever that means."**

**The door opened.**

**Leon stood there, watching them.**

**Kevin turned, studied the other man. There was nothing on his face like he'd seen last night, this morning. With surprise, Kevin realized, somewhere inside of him, he loved Leon too and it hurt to see that emptiness on his face.**

**Taylor**** said, "Leon, I'm glad you're here. We need to talk."**

**He closed the door behind him, leaned against it.**

**He said, quietly, "About what? The fact that we have a great time and the next morning, not even ten hours later, somebody decides to piss it all away on some smart ass plumber?"**

**Kevin sighed. "Jesus. I'm sorry. What do you want from me?"**

**Taylor touched his arm, sat on the edge of the bed. "It's okay. I'm the one who was wrong. I never should've…" She trailed off. "I think…it'd be better if I stopped seeing you both."**

**Kevin shook his head, hard. Leon just looked at her.**

**"I…I can't keep you both dangling. It's wrong and it's cruel." She looked like she was going to cry.**

**Kevin, ignoring Leon, knelt in front of her. "Taylor, I want to be with you. Don't you understand that? Whatever that means."**

**She shook her head. "You both deserve…better. Leon, you said it the other day. You shouldn't have to share. If someone loves you, they shouldn't hurt you."**

**Leon said, quietly, "I was an idiot."**

**She met his gaze. "You were right."**

**"You think you can get rid of me that easily?"**

**Tears trickled down her cheeks. "I don't want to lose either of you but I can't keep hurting you. Every time I'm with Kevin, it will tear you apart." She looked at Kevin. "And the same with you."**

**Kevin laid his head on her lap. "I don't care. Kennedy…he's a good man. I think maybe I…" He shook his head. "I would never ask you to leave him."**

**Leon**** said, "Neither would I. Listen, a lot of shit has happened lately. Things are different, forever. But after last night, I can't get jealous when I see you two together. Because I know, I'm there with you."**

**Kevin nodded, laid his chin on her knees. "I want to go on like this…for as long as we can."**

**Taylor**** looked doubtful. "Okay but we have a rule, here and now. If either of you is…attracted to someone else. I want you to feel free to pursue that. I don't  want to stop you from finding…"**

**Kevin took her hands, kissed them. "It was a mistake. A mistake. I wouldn't hurt you…" He turned his gaze, met Leon's. "Either of you."**

**Leon**** nodded.**

**Taylor**** sighed, laid her head onto of Kevin's.**

**He rose, kissed her. **

**"Where are you going?"**

**He looked at Leon. "I've got some plumber ass to kick."**

**Leon**** smirked, stepped aside.**

**He paused at the door, met the other cop's eyes. It was awkward.**

**Leon**** said, "Go on. Go."**

**Kevin nodded. He said, "I meant what I said. I wouldn't hurt you."**

**They didn't look at each other. They hadn't reached that point. Leon simply nodded.**

**The door closed quietly behind him.**

**Taylor**** stood. Leon walked to her.**

**Without a word, she lifted her arms. He picked her up, slammed her back against the wall and crushed his mouth to hers.**

**She didn't know what was going to happen. She was lost, adrift in doubt, in confusion and fear. But, for brief moments, cradled in Leon's arms, it was okay. He was her strength, her power, her passion.**

**It was why she loved him.**

**She thought of Kevin. When she was with him, she was filled with laughter, with light. He was her joy, her escape from pain. **

**It was why she loved him.**

**She wondered how long they could go on. She wondered how she'd ever let one of them go.**

**The lamp clattered to the floor, shattering. They rolled across the bed, hands groping, tearing.**

**She stopped thinking…and just lived.**


	15. Fifteen: Fury and Albert Wesker

**Whoa.**

**A midget chapter.******

**Either I'm getting crappier…or….dun dun dun**

**Mwahahha****.**** Sex and love again people. Don't worry the action will be back.**

**Fifteen- Fury…and Albert Wesker.******

**David and Alyssa walked quietly across the parking lot. **

**He was still brooding, she was surprisingly silent. It made it worse somehow, to have her silently admonishing him. It was something he might do himself.**

**Nothing hurt worse then silence.**

**Alyssa glanced up, had a moment to jump to the side…**

**David grunted, smacked his head hard on the pavement. Stars danced in his head. He could swear he saw Jesus.**

**He skidded over the ground, felt his skin burn where his shirt ripped. **

**A fist smashed into his jaw. For a moment, his vision blanked before coming back.**

**Kevin was snarling. "Get up, you bitch!"**

**David spit blood. "I'm not gonna fight you."**

**Kevin hit him again. David's head whipped to the side, blood sprayed on the pavement.**

**Kevin took his face in his hands, smacked his head on the concrete. "Fight, you fucking cunt!"**

**David shook his head again. **

**Kevin got to his feet, pulled David up by his shirt. David came easily, ready to take the beating. **

**A solid jab to the stomach had him on his hands and knees, trying to find air.**

**Alyssa cried, "Kevin! Stop it!"**

**Kevin pointed at her, his eyes flashing. "You stay out of it! The two of you like fucking girlfriends, laughing behind my back! Did you think it was funny Alyssa?"**

**The anger on her face couldn't hide the guilt. **

**"Yeah.**** You get in the middle, I'll slap you down with him."**

**She looked outraged.**

**Kevin lifted his foot and kicked David solidly in the ribs. He reached down, gripped David by the neck and lifted him.**

**"Not so funny now, huh Dave?"******

**He smashed his fist into his face again. **

**David stumbled backward, slammed into the side of a car. The alarm went off, blaringly loud.**

**Kevin gripped him by the back of his head, one hand in his hair. "You gonna fight?"**

**David spit blood, huddled over himself. "No."**

**With a shrug, Kevin rammed his knee into the other man's face. David went rolling.**

**Alyssa screamed, "Oh for god's sake!"**

**David, his eye swollen shot, his nose and mouth a ruin of blood, rasped, "Alyssa!**** No! He's right! Stay out of it!"**

**Kevin put his foot on David's chest. "Did you enjoy making Taylor cry? Was it fun? Was it worth it?"**

**David looked up at him, impossibly sad. "No. No it wasn't."**

**Kevin kicked him once, twice, three times in the stomach. "That's for hurting her. And this," He brought his heel down into the other man's balls. "That's for hurting me. We we're friends."**

**David cupped himself, rolled, vomited blood on the concrete.**

**"We we're friends you bastard." He grabbed David by his hair, lifted his face until it was even with his. "I'm sorry that wasn't enough for you. I'm even more sorry that you felt the need to prove something. All you did was hurt us both." **

**He kicked him in the stomach again and David crumpled, hand cupping himself, curled on his side on the concrete.**

**Kevin looked at him, hoping to feel triumphant, and he just felt impossibly miserable. He spit on David, brought his foot back.**

**"KEVIN!"**

**He turned.**

**Yoko was running out of the diner. The horror on his face was almost too much.**

**He never wanted her to look at him like that.**

**She looked at David, at him. There was such disbelief, such shock written across her countenance.**

**Kevin reached over and hugged her. He couldn't help himself.**

**He kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry. Yoko…"**

**He started walking.**

**Yoko yelled, "Kevin!"**

**He started jogging.**

**"KEVIN!"**

**He began to run.**

**Alyssa knelt beside David, reached out her hand and touched him.**

**He shrugged her away, violently. "Don't touch me!"**

**Yoko whispered, "Oh my god…what happened?"**

**Alyssa shook her head, her face collapsed into lines of remorse. She was pale, her eyes glazed with tears.**

**Someone yelled. "There's a fucking dent in my car!"**

**Yoko said, "We need to go…"**

**Alyssa whispered, "David…they're going to call the cops. We need to get out of here. Can you walk?"**

**He glared at her, stood, breathing heavily, still holding himself.**

**Yoko came toward him. "Do you need help?"**

**David glanced at her face. "No. Thank you. I can walk."**

**"Alright."******

**Wesker**** was standing there, smiling that smile that Alyssa wasn't sure if she found sinister or just…hot.**

**He was a weird man.**

**She had trouble figuring him out.**

**He was handsome and probably…she stared at him. It was hard to judge his age by his looks. Although his bio said he was thirty-eight, he didn't look anywhere over thirty.**

**She studied him, knew the moment he turned his gaze to look back at her.**

**A shiver ran down her spine. Alyssa had a fascination with the bad boy.**

**All her life, she'd dated the wrong men…and loved it. **

**His smile tilted, just a little. **

**Yoko was walking along beside David, in case he needed help.**

**Alyssa tried to keep her face blank as she and Wesker starting walking behind them.**

**She didn't miss the way he brushed, just a little, against her side.**

**Giddy, hiding it, she said, "Do you like to be called Albert?"**

**He lifted a brow. "No."**

**"I didn't think so. How about Al?"**

**That smile**** again, like he had a dirty little secret. "Do you like to be called Al?"**

**"Touche'." He was clever. That was even better. "So you and Yoko…you like…an item?"**

**He looked at her. "We're…old friends."**

**Ah. The old friends line. She smirked. "I'm just trying to…weigh my chances."**

**Wesker**** smiled again. She amazed that a smile could look so…evil.**

**She didn't think she'd ever been more turned on.**

**…..**

**Taylor trailed her hand over his stomach, along the baby soft skin of his side.**

**He was sleeping. He was beautiful.**

**He murmured a little at her touch, smiled in his sleep. As if, even in dreams, he was ticklish.**

**Her eyes skimmed over him. His body was…perfect. She didn't think he had an ounce of fat on him anywhere.**

**One edge of the sheet was tucked over his hips, one leg resting on top, the other underneath.**

**She trailed her fingers over the softness of the hair on his leg. It was dark, unlike the hair on his head, which remained a dark red. She lifted the sheet, peeked under it. Yep. A natural red head.**

**Giggling, quietly of course, she traced her hand over his stomach. The definition, even softer in sleep, was unmistakable. **

**Kevin was built well, solid. But Leon…**

**She lifted the sheet, stared. **

**His stomach was contoured, ribbed. There were those lines above his hips that she absolutely adored. She traced one, then the other.**

**As only a woman can, she looked at him, soft and quiet amongst the curling reddish brown hair. **

**Of the two of them, Kevin was longer. She encircled Leon with her fingers. Leon was definately…wider. Soft, barely fit between her circled fingers. She worked his body a little, a test. **

**He hardened and her fingers opened, no longer touched. Ah yes, definitely wider.**

**Then he was grasping her, rolling until he was atop her.**

**He was grinning.**

**"What were you doing down there?"**

**She smiled, devilishly. "Playing."**

**He slid his tongue over her throat, nibbled. "Mmm."**

**She giggled, slid her hands down his back, over his ass, watched the fire spark in his eyes.**

**She breathed, "Still sore?"**

**His lips lifted, wicked. "Maybe."**

**"I need to tell you something."**

**She brushed his hair of forehead, watched in delight as it tumbled down again. "What's that?"**

**"I never figured you for the…experimental type."**

**He grinned at her, shark like. "Disappointed?"**

**"Are you kidding me?" She leaned up a little. "Although, maybe I'm a little jealous."**

**One eyebrow winged up. "Why's that?"**

**She nibbled his earlobe, felt him shudder. Leon had sensitive ears. "Maybe I'd like to fuck you."**

**He ran his eyes over her face, his grinning spreading. And then they were rolling again until she was on top of him.**

**He whispered, "So fuck me."**

**She glanced back, saw him jutting upward, ready.**

**"I think you'll hurt me." She batted her eyes coquettishly.**

**One corner of his mouth raised, his hand slid upward, found her already damp against his belly. **

**He stroked her, slowly, achingly.**

**She felt her eyes closing, his hand gripping her chin. "No watch me. I want to see you go up."**

**She thought that was the hottest thing she'd ever heard him say.**

**She focused on his face, felt her body expanding. She jerked, moaned.**

**He was amazing to watch. He seemed to feel everything she was feeling, his chin coming up, his teeth bared as he worked her.**

**She reached back, grasped him.**

**He growled, "Fuck me."**

**Taylor lifted herself, guided him into her.**

**At first, she thought he wouldn't fit. He was too big, too large from this angle. She was too full.**

**He saw her face, stroked her. **

**She jerked and he speared his hips upward, impaling her.**

**With a cry that was part pain, part pleasure, she gripped his hands, palm to palm.**

**His face was lined with sweat. "You alright?"**

**She murmured. **

**"Baby?"******

**She tightened her hands on his. "Oh god."**

**It was deeper from this angle, sharper. She started to move.**

**Leon**** groaned, laced their fingers together. She started to close her eyes again and he pushed up to meet her. **

**Her eyes flew open. At this angle, he brushed against something inside of her, some secret place. Pleasure lanced through her almost painfully.**

**His teeth bared, an animals smile. "Yeah. Watch me."**

**The bed creaked, groaned as they found the rhythm. She rode him, milked him, felt her body like a glove around his.**

**Keeping her eyes on his heightened the pleasure, heightened the ecstasy. She came screaming. **

**The heat of him pumped into her body as he followed her with an animal like cry.**

**She started to collapse and he lifted her, brought her down to him until she was curled on her side with her back against his front.**

**He laid his cheek against her back. She could feel the harsh labored breaths, the dampness against her skin.**

**She cuddled around his arm. **

**Could she do this? Was she the girl that could go from one bed to another?**

**Could she give up Leon forever? Could she give up Kevin?**

**She didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to imagine it.**

**She rolled, laid her face even with his. **

**Such beautiful blue eyes.******

**She kissed him, just once, just softly and in some ways, it was better then all the sex in the world.**

**He smiled, "What was that for?"**

**She didn't smile back. "I love you."**

**He traced her cheekbones. "I love you."**

**"Why do you love me?"**

**His eyebrows rose. "Because I've never felt with anyone the way I feel with you."**

**Like it was simple.**** Like it was so easy.**

**"Why do you put up with me?"**

**He smiled again. "Cause I'm an idiot."**

**She let out a cry, wrapped her arms around him. **

**Was she a fool? What kind of woman was she?**

**She pressed her mouth on his, closed her eyes.**

**……**

**Alyssa slid to the floor.**

**She wondered if her eyes were crossed. She felt like jello…well used jello.**

**When she'd opened her room door, she'd been mildly surprised to find him standing there.**

**She'd let him in and, in a matter of minutes, had been lost somewhere between shock and ecstasy.**

**He walked, stark naked, to her dresser where he picked up his sunglasses and slid them on.**

**Alyssa watched him, fascinated. She swore, that the man had muscles in places that normal men didn't. He was almost…her mind struggled for something to compare him to. But she was exhausted, elated. **

**She laid back on the floor. **

**They'd never made it the bed.**

**She grinned as he turned back to her, completely oblivious to the fact that he was naked. She'd never seen a man more comfortable in his nudity.**

**She smirked, "What's with the glasses?"**

**He bent, lifted her. She snuggled into his shoulder as he laid her across the bed, slid down next to her. "My eyes are extremely sensitive to the light."**

**Oh. She thought about that. There was a condition for something like that. What was it called?**

**As if reading her mind, he said, "Photophobia."**

**"Ah…that's it." She trailed her long nails down his chest. **

**He was built better then any man she'd ever seen. There wasn't any excess skin on him.**

**As far as muscles went, his were lean but she gripped his bicep. Lean alright but hard as a rock.**

**She figured him to be the type of man who didn't bother with lifting weights. Most of it was good genetics.**

**She slid her hand down, cupped him. He smiled, just a little, just a tilt at one corner of his mouth.**

**Then they were rolling, she was laughing, panting, screaming.**

**She came back down to earth, breathing like she'd just run 6 miles in five inch Manolos.**

**He was nuzzling her neck.**

**She started to drift and just before she slept, she realized, he hadn't cum not once. Sleep swept her under.**

**She didn't even feel the prick of the needle when he slid it into her flesh.**

**……**

**Kevin stared at the bottle. It seemed to be taunting him.**

**He didn't want to touch it. Didn't want to go back to what he'd been.**

**Movement, someone slid onto the stool beside him. He turned his head and met David's eye.**

**His face was a mess. Swollen lips, left eye sealed shut, a bruise the size of a pancake blossoming on his cheek.**

**Kevin cursed. **

**David took the bottle, knocked back a long swallow. "Don't say you're sorry."**

**Kevin shook his head. "I wasn't."**

**David's smiled and it looked painful. "I deserved it."**

**"Yeah.**** Yeah you did." He looked at the other man. "But fuck…I could of stopped it and I didn't."**

**David leaned on the bar. They both stared blankly at the bottles lined up behind it.**

**"Stopped which part?"**

**Kevin sighed. "Both."**

**David nodded. "I could've stopped too. So looks like I owe you an apology."**

**"Fuck it. We're both are sorry. That'll have to do."**

**"I was jealous."**

**Kevin nodded, lit a cigarette. "Yeah. I got that part."**

**David put his face in his hands. "So you really love her huh?"**

**Kevin took a long drag. "Yeah. It fuckin hurts sometimes."**

**"I know that feeling."**

**They smiled at each other, sadly.**

**"Dave listen…if things were different-"**

**"Don't. There's no need. I know."**

**Kevin hated struggling with words. "I like you."**

**David smirked. "Well…that's something."**

**"I just don't think I can…give you what you want."**

**David was quiet. "You know…it's not my place. But I hope you realize you're headed into a bad situation."**

**"I know it." He stared at the bottle. "This is the way to be with her. I'm gonna take it."**

**"It's gonna come down to a choice. You know it is."**

**Kevin looked at the other man. "Who will she choose?"**

**David, wanting to comfort, because he loved him and it was the best he could do, laid his hand on the other man's shoulder. "She'll choose Leon."**

**Kevin closed his eyes, nodded. He'd known. He'd always known.**

**David smiled, sadly. "And you'll shake his hand, pat his back and congratulate them. You'll be a godfather to their first kid and eventually…you'll be okay."**

**Kevin put his face in his hands, rubbed his temples. "I don't want to stop being friends Dave."**

**"Me either."**

**"Good." He looked at him. "Do you want to get really drunk?"**

**"I thought you'd never ask."**

**….**

**Taylor**** stood in front of the mirror, washing her face. **

**Arm around her waist, a face nuzzling her neck.**** She smiled said, "Hey there."**

**Leon**** grinned, kissed her ear. "Phone call for you."**

**She rinsed her face, dried it and went to pick up the phone.**

**Leon**** gave her a quick kiss. He was going shopping for them. They were desperately in need of new clothes.**

**His parents had wired him money. Just like that. No questions.**

**They were so happy he'd survived Raccoon City that they'd fallen immediately for his half assed story about being out of town when it'd happened.**

**She winked at him and said, "Hello?"**

**"Hey beautiful."******

**The voice was breathy, pained.**

**She squealed. "Chris! Omigod…how are you?"**

**She could hear his soft laugh. "I'm alright. Coupla broken bones, some permanent scars…but luckily nothing that's gonna kill me."**

**"What about Jill?"**

**"She's great actually. She could actually go for a walk around the grounds today."**

**"That's wonderful!"**

**"Yeah."**** He was quiet for a moment. "I wanna…ask you about Claire."**

**Her heart hurt for him. "Alright."**

**"Was…was it quick?"**

**She thought about Claire, cut in half. She would have died writhing, screaming in pain. No it wasn't quick. **

**Taylor**** opened her mouth and lied. "Yes. She went painlessly Chris. She'd would have been unconscious."**

**She could hear his sigh. "Well…that's…something."**

**"Chris we can have…a memorial. When you're ready."**

**"I'd like that. Claire would like that."**

**Taylor hadn't known Claire but she loved Chris, like a brother, like a friend. She'd do whatever he needed.**

**His voice came again and she heard the fatigue, the pain. "Will you come see me tomorrow?"**

**"Of course."******

**"Okay…I'm gonna go to sleep. I'm so tired."**

**"Alright.**** Chris, I'm so sorry."**

**"Thank you."**

**They hung up. **

**Taylor**** sat on the edge of the bed for a long moment. She hated to know he was hurting. She imagined part of him wished he'd died with Claire.**

**He'd lost every now. His father, his mother. He was alone.**

**She ran her fingers over the phone, as if she could touch him, bring him some kind of comfort.**

**The door opened and Kevin waltzed in.**

**Although waltzed was being polite.**

**He staggered in, grinning like an idiot.**

**Taylor**** felt a smile tug at her mouth.**

**"Why hello there."******

**She smiled and said, tongue in cheek. "Been drinkin?"**

**"Pssh…nah." He waved his arm, stopped as if fascinated by his own knuckles. "David has a hard face."**

**Her eyebrows winged up. She stood, took his hand.**

**The knuckles were torn, swollen, crusty with blood. **

**Taylor clucked her tongue, shook her head. "Come on tough guy. Let's get these cleaned up."**

**He flinched a little as she slid his hand under the faucet in the bathroom.**

**"So you and David had a fight, did you?"**

**He was watching her face. "Yeah. We cool though. We buds again."**

**"I see." She could smell the liquor on his breath. "Got drunk together huh?"**

**"Yep.**** The fuckin plumber can hold his shit." He staggered on his way to the bed, flopped across it.**

**"You do realize it's only one o'clock in the afternoon."**

**"Uh-huh. So?"**

**"A little early for drinking."******

**He rolled onto his back, looked at her. "You're so pretty."**

**She rolled her eyes, untied his shoes. "You need to sleep."**

**He caught her hand, pulled her down until she was on top of him.**

**She smiled, unable to help herself, slid her hands into his hair. **

**"Wanna make out?"**

**She considered him. "I don't know if my poor ego could handle you passing out in the middle of it."**

**"Bah. Do I look like some light weight?"**

**She trailed a hand over his stomach. "Well you ARE a little chubby."**

**He pouted. "Damn Kennedy. The man thinks we all need to look like some Fireman in a calendar. He makes me feel old and fat."**

**She giggled, kissed him.**

**His breath tasted like whiskey and…corn nuts. **

**He nibbled at her mouth making little hmm hmm noises. She was laughing when he rolled and the ended up flopping onto the floor.**

**Kevin rubbed his tailbone. "Youch."**

**She straddled him, sat up. "You're a goof."**

**"I try." He had that look in his eye.**

**"Oh god."******

**She didn't have time to run.**

**Even drunk, he managed to be quick. He snatched her around the waist.**

**Outside the door, George paused. **

**He could hear the giggling, the thump of bodies. **

**He lowered his hand and shook his head. With a smile, he limped away. **

**Looks like he'd be getting lunch alone after all.******

**Yoko was walking toward him. "Hey George."**

**"Hey Yoko.**** Are you going to Taylor's room?"**

**"I was planning to. Why?"**

**He bobbled his brows. She grinned. "Oh."**

**"Yeah.**** Would you like to escort me to lunch?"**

**She smiled. "I would love to."**

**Inside the room, Kevin was blowing raspberries in Taylor's stomach.**

**She squealed. "I'm gonna kill you!"**

**"Bah! You love me."**

**She looked at him. "Lord knows why."**

**"I ask myself that everyday." He looked at her face, squinted. "Is there supposed to be two of you?"**

**"Double your pleasure."**

**He snickered, flopped down on the bed next to her. "If only life were that good."**

**His cheeks were flushed from liquor, from play. She studied him as she'd studied Leon earlier.**

**His face was more rugged not nearly as beautiful.**

**But it was enigmatic, edgy. A lot of sharp angles. **

**She traced the dark stubble on his chin. It was ticklish on her hands.**

**He rolled his head, looked at her. His eyes were dark, a color lost somewhere between brown and gray. He saw the softness of her face.**

**He was just drunk enough to ask. "Why do you love me?"**

**And she thought this was a familiar conversation.**

**"Cause you make me laugh."**

**He smiled.**

**"Because you make me cum."******

**He choked a little, laughed loudly. "Well there ya go."**

**She snuggled against him, ran a hand under his shirt, over the sprinkling of hair just above his nipples.**

**He made a contented sound, laid his cheek on her head.**

**She was still stroking him, when she felt his breathing even into sleep.**

**With something close to a smile, she slipped down into the darkness after him.**


	16. Sixteen: The Christmas Party

**Ho ho ho.**

**Happy times in this one folks.**

**I'm glad to see I now have a second reviewer. So, in honor of my growing fame (knock on wood). Here's the next installment. **

**I swear these things are getting shorter.**

**Enjoy.**

**Sixteen- The Christmas Party**

**Alyssa was feverish, her blood was boiling. She could make out shapes above her.**

**David speaking.**** What was he saying?**

**She lifted a hand, felt it fall limply back to her side.**

**Someone was laying a cool rag on her head. She murmured.**

**Yoko's face over hers, concerned.**

**The darkness sucked her under and she thought no more.**

**…..**

**Taylor**** was watching Leon dress.**

**The shirt was black and hugged closely to his body, giving glimpses of the muscle underneath. The jeans were that great dark blue color that fades with washing. She watched him strap on his shoulder holster, tighten the straps of the one that gripped his right thigh.**

**He'd gone shopping alright. He'd bought her several different tank tops, swishy pants, jeans, khakis, cargo pants, three different pairs of Nikes, a little sexy red dress (which had her eyebrows lifting), matching patent leather heels, 3 bras (one that looked like it would put her cleavage up around her throat), unimaginable amounts of panties, a pretty lavender sweater that she just knew was cashmere, slippers, pajamas, a mostly invisible negligee and a partridge in a pear tree.**

**Well everything except the last.**

**For a man, he was an excellent shopper.**

**He'd had to rent a car to get it all back to the hotel.**

**He bought Yoko clothes, Alyssa clothes, Barry, Chris, Jill, George, Sherry and Kevin. He'd even bought the plumber clothes.**

**He was generous. She wondered how he'd guessed everyone sizes.**

**He hadn't shopped for Albert Wesker.**

**But the man was loaded so it wasn't really necessary.**

**She watched Leon slip his hands into black gloves without fingers tips, watched him tie on black combat boots. She watched the muscles in his back as he leaned down.**

**The shirt emphasized his body. She stared at his ass while he tied his boot. **

**It was compact like the rest of him. She skimmed her fingers over it and he glanced over his shoulders, grinning.**

**"Whatchu doin back there?"******

**"Nothin."**** She bit her lip, smiled.**

**He stood, looked over his shoulder at her.**

**She felt her heart flutter. He looked…dangerous. There was a half smile on his face that said he knew exactly what she was thinking.**

**She watched him sit, begin cleaning the new Desert Eagle he'd bought himself. **

**She crawled forward on the bed, laid on her belly with her head in her hands, watching him.**

**His mouth tilted upward. "What?"**

**"Nothin."******

**His teeth flashed. "It's always nothin with you."**

**"Yep.**** I just like to look at you."**

**His hair was in his left eye when he glanced at her, smiling.**

**She moved off the bed, took his face in her hands, brushed the hair back.**

**He looked up at her, the gun lying across his lap.**

**She said, "I love you."**

**And there was something different behind it. They both knew it. She saw it register behind his eyes. He rolled his mouth against her palm, kissed it.**

**She trailed her fingers through his hair. "What are you thinking?"**

**He picked the gun up, laid it on the dresser beside him, and patted his lap. She slid onto him, the jeans whispering against her bare legs. She sat on him like he was Santa Claus, her legs dangling on the floor.**

**He brushed a hand over her hair. **

**"I was just thinking about where we go from here. Whether or not we spend the rest of out lives running."**

**She ran a finger under the strap of the shoulder holster. "Whether or not you'll have to walk around with this thing on every day until the day you die."**

**He traced a tattoo up her back. "Yeah."**

**"I was thinking…" She trailed off, nervous.**

**He studied her face. "What?"**

**She shook her head, stood. "While you were gone today, after Kevin passed out." She smirked, "I realized something…"**

**She walked into the bathroom and he followed her, leaning on the doorframe.**

**"Today is Christmas."**

**He jerked once, seemed shocked. "Oh my god. You're right."**

**She lifted the thing in her hand and pressed it into his. Her cheeks were pale, her eyes a little frightened.**

**He looked down at it. It was white, long, had two tiny blue lines…**

**She saw the moment he realized what he was looking at. His eyes widened, locked on hers.**

**She whispered, "Merry Christmas."**

**He bobbled the thing in his hand. **

**She took it from him, gently. "It's yours."**

**He met her gaze, speechless.**

**"I've only made love to Kevin once and we used protection." She clenched her hands in her lap, looked at the floor. "I figure it happened the first time…at the Apple Inn. I was due a week ago but with everything that happened…"**

**She trailed off.**

**He was silent.**

**Neither moved a muscle. The silence stretched. **

**Outside someone had started to sing Christmas Carols.**

**…..**

**"MISTLE TOE!"******

**Yoko smirked, let George plant a sloppy kiss on her cheek.**

**The surgeon was drunk. Too much good egg nog and too many great pain killers.**

**He limped along with the antlers on his head, the mistle toe hanging from their highest point.**

**Yoko glanced at Alyssa, surprised she'd come to the party.**

**The woman had nearly been brain fried from fever earlier in the day.**

**And then…suddenly…she'd been fine. Smiles and jokes.**

**All back to normal.**

**They were at a little club in Newburg. It was called _Tug of War_.**

**Yoko thought it might be partly a swingers club, partly a dance club, partly a strip club. She watched a woman swing herself around a pole. It was almost…graceful.**

**Yoko figured that's what most men wanted. A hot babe. She looked at herself.**

**She was wearing a dark green dress with tiny silver etchings of Christmas trees along the hem and over the square neck line. It was silk, it was beautiful. Leon had bought it for her. **

**It was wonderful but it wasn't sexy. SHE wasn't sexy. **

**People looked at her and thought, "Oh isn't she so cute." Even Wesker, the only man she'd ever been with, treated her like a fragile child.**

**If any of them knew that she just wanted to be a woman…just once.**

**She sighed, drank some of her virgin egg nog. They'd never believe it. The shock would probably kill them. **

**Kevin was bumping and grinding with Alyssa. **

**She was wearing something that might have doubled as a nightgown. It was dark red and lacy at the bust with tiny straps at the shoulders, it barely reached below her butt cheeks. Yoko doubted she was wearing a bra. **

**But it was okay. She was all woman. No one in this place was second guessing it.**

**If Yoko went braless, no one would notice. Except a person that might say, "Hey nice mosquito bites." Her bra was the only thing that even hinted at boobs. **

**Wesker touched her shoulder and she tensed.**

**He had to lean down a ways to speak into her ear. "How's my girl?"**

**She wanted to shrug his hand off, to move closer. He was a contradiction.**

**"I'm alright."**

**"Let's dance."**

**What could she do? Nothing. He had her number.**

**Kevin and Alyssa were laughing. Yoko figured he was at least half drunk. He kept grabbing her ass and she…well she kept putting it within hands reach.**

**It was amazing that just earlier that day; they'd been all but mortal enemies. **

**But they come to the party together. David and Kevin like old frat buddies.**

**David was dancing with Sherry.**

**Yoko didn't approve of bringing the little girl to the club. But they couldn't leave her home. Not on Christmas.**

**Surprisingly, the little girl was attached to Yoko. There was eight years difference in their ages. She had become almost a sister to Sherry Birkin.**

**Sherry was enthralled with David. Most women were.**

**Yoko wondered what it was about gay men that drew women like flies to honey.**

**George was dancing between two women with chests the size of soccer balls. The women didn't seem to mind that he had to hobble on one leg.**

**Yoko couldn't help smiling.**

**She knew he was hurting over Cindy. She couldn't blame him for wanting to cut loose.**

**Wesker laid his hand on her back. Yoko took a deep breath as he guided her into his arms.**

**The live band, who actually weren't too bad, were playing a slow rendition of _I'll be home for Christmas._**

**She barely reached his shoulder.**

**He'd always over shadowed her. Hell, he overshadowed everyone.**

**Barry was sitting at the bar. **

**Yoko knew he missed his family. He'd been quiet, morose most of the evening. She wouldn't be surprised if he called it any early night.**

**Wesker slid his hand over her back, rested his fingers just at the top of her tailbone.**

**She shivered.**

**"My little Yoko."******

**Why did that always sound so sinister?**

**She put her hands on his shoulder. **

**They swayed together. She let it all go, just for a moment. She loved him.**

**Maybe that was enough.**

**…..**

**Kevin hopped up on the stool at their table.**

**Down below, David and Alyssa were cutting loose. He had to admit, Dave was a hell of a dancer. Those long legs came in handy for more then fast running.**

**He studied Alyssa for a moment. If she was any hotter…**

**He grinned. He was a man and Alyssa was hot. No doubt about it.**

**David, minus the busted face, put Kevin to shame. **

**He was wearing something that was obviously silk. It flowed like only good silk could. Kevin wasn't much on expensive shit but he figured David had dressed to kill.**

**The color was some shade of purple. He was betting Dave would know just what it was called.**

**He turned his gaze and managed to see Taylor and Leon make an entrance.**

**She looked…Kevin's mind stumbled. The dress was made up of little more then a bra and panties with a fine sheen of red sparkles over it. His mouth watered at the sight of her. Her dark hair was fixed in some kind of curly clip onto of her head. Silver barrettes twinkled in the flashing neon lights.**

**Kennedy, surprisingly, wasn't dressed to kill.**

**He looked…tough. Kevin searched for the rookie in the man and couldn't find him. He was wearing a waist length brown leather jacket with the collar turned up enough that it framed his face.**

**Kevin's cop eyes studied him. **

**Surprised, he realized that Kennedy was packing.**

**Kevin whistled, low. Raccoon City had put the fear of god in Leon Kennedy.**

**He tapped one booted heel against the rung of the stool. **

**He was about half plowed. Which kind of upset him. He'd given up the bottle.**

**But a bad couple of days, and he'd taken a nose dive straight off the wagon.**

**Twice in one day, it was a record. Even for him.**

**Taylor**** wondered if she looked like she felt. Her heart was hurting. Did it show?**

**She'd expected Leon to take the news badly. **

**But he hadn't said a word to her. Not a single word. **

**She'd dressed, fixed her hair, put on her jacket and they'd left. Just like that.**

**He hadn't touched her, hadn't even looked at her. **

**She thought she would die from it. How many times could she survive being estranged from him? **

**She lifted her head, scanned the club. **

**George was…her mind blanked. He was going into a private booth.**

**She blinked once and shook her head. She knew what he wanted for Christmas.**

**Yoko and Wesker were dancing. She didn't know how she felt about them together. There was something…off about Albert Wesker. He was charming, he was polite and polished. He'd been kind and giving and thoughtful…But alarm bells went off in her head at the sight of him.**

**Alyssa and David were bumping all over each other as a rather risqué version of _Jingle Bell Rock_ blared from the band.**

**Sherry, she was shocked to see, was dancing with another boy about her age.**

**Taylor**** wondered if people understood that there were strippers here. Apparently, it was also a great place to bring the kids. Riiight.**

**She passed over Kevin once before she realized it was him.**

**He was sort of sprawled on a stool not far from the door. She'd passed him by because his head had been hidden…under a Stetson.**

**He was the quintessential cowboy.**

**White T-shirt, tight enough she wanted to giggle, glittering gold belt buckle, faded blue jeans and tooled boots. He looked…spectacular. She hadn't ever imagined he'd pull off the cowboy look.**

**He met her gaze, winked lazily and tipped his hat.**

**She couldn't help it, she smiled.**

**Leon**** actually spoke to her. "You want something to drink?"**

**She looked up into his face. It was set in polite lines. There was nothing in those blues eyes. Nothing.**

**She shook her head. "No thank you."**

**"I'm gonna get a beer. I'll meet ya at the table."**

**He nodded at Kevin as he passed him. **

**Taylor**** moved forward. Her legs were rubber.**

**Gratefully, she slipped onto a stool next to him. He offered her a smoke. Mindful of her condition, she shook her head.**

**"Evenin' little lady."**

**It was such a bad John Wayne impersonation, she had to laugh. She had to shout above the pound of the music. "You look amazing."**

**He winked again. "I don't think I need to tell you what happened behind my belt buckle when you walked in."**

**She blushed, she couldn't help it. **

**She looked at his face. She had to tell him…**

**Leon**** was setting a glass of water in front of her.**

**Surprised, she looked up at him. She knew what the water was. An acknowledgement.**

**He slid onto the stool next to her.**

**"Kev."******

**"Hey bud. Nice…piece."**

**Leon**** tensed, relaxed. "Habit."**

**Kevin smiled. "God bless fucking Umbrella."**

**Leon and Kevin toasted. "Amen."**

**David swung up onto a stool with Alyssa plopping onto his lap, laughing.**

**One look said it all; they were all on their way to lower brain function.**

**David looked at Leon. "Hey."**

**"Hey."**

**"Listen about earlier…"**

**"Forget it. Merry Christmas."**

**Congenial, David grinned, "Same to you brother. Thanks for the digs."**

**"My pleasure."******

**Alyssa giggled. "Yeah thanks Leon. How does it look?"**

**Leon**** whistled. "Hot. I knew it would."**

**She winked at him, and to his amusement, leaned over the table to plant a big wet kiss on his mouth.**

**She grinned. "Wanted to do that from the first time I saw you in that starched uniform of yours."**

**Leon**** smiled. "Was it good for you baby?"**

**Kevin snickered. David smirked.**

**Alyssa licked her lips and seemed to be considering. She leaned over the table, kissed him again and had everyone but Taylor laughing.**

**She did her best to smile.**

**Kevin leaned over, his breath soft and warm on her neck. "What's wrong baby?"**

**She turned her head, met his eyes. "Nothing. Christmas depresses me." _And I'm pregnant._**

**He looped an arm over the back of her chair, leaned a little closer. "Wanna go somewhere and…unwrap your gift?"**

**_YES!_**** "What and leave the party?" She tried a smile; it didn't hurt too badly after all.**

**David suddenly cooed, "KEVIN!"**

**Kevin sat up, swaying a little. "Yo!"**

**"Dance with me!"**

**Kevin leaned close to Taylor and nuzzled her throat. She shivered.**

**He leapt off the stool. "Let's dance, plumber."**

**David grabbed his arm, pulled him toward the dance floor. **

**Alyssa, drunk as skunk, said, "I need more beer. Leon! I'll be back. Watch my ass as I leave, k?"**

**Leon****'s teeth were very white in the flashing lights. "Naturally."**

**She stumbled toward the bar, singing high and off key.**

**They sat in silence for a moment. **

**Taylor**** broke first. "You gonna ignore me all night?"**

**He was watching David and Kevin. The two men were stumbling into each other, laughing.**

**"Leon."**

**He looked at her.**

**"What are you thinking?"**

**She was so beautiful. He didn't think in any place in all the world that there was another woman like her. **

**"I don't know what I'm thinking."**

**Something slid through her eyes, some level of sorrow, and he felt like someone was trying to rip his guts out through his throat.**

**"I need to go home."**

**He watched her stand. **

**"Taylor…we just got here."**

**"I'm gonna walk. Stay. Have fun."**

**She stepped by him and he caught her before he thought better. It was instinct, it was need.**

**He pulled her to him, between his knees, and laid his cheek on her stomach. **

**Taylor**** felt her heart wrench. The neon lights made his red hair seem iridescent. She saw flashes of indigo, smears of orange. She'd wanted to paint him. But she thought she could never catch that inner light, the immediate core of what he was.**

**He was…everything. **

**When had he become everything?**

**Then she knew. **

**She'd heard his voice, calling her back from the darkness, from the edge. He'd coaxed her from the spiraling abyss. He'd _saved _her.**

**He held her, gently, a hand on either side of her narrow waist.**

**"What are you doing?"**

**It was his answer, so simple, so wonderful, that pushed her into the light again.**

**"Trying to hear my baby."******

**Her hands shook as she laid them on his head, put her lips in his hair, and loved him.**

**Leon**** pressed his lips against her stomach. **

**His mind was full of shadows, glimpses, thoughts of things half forgotten, no longer important.**

**Her belly was so small, so flat. **

**He was _inside_ her. Growing. **

**It was a miracle. **

**Kevin's voice was empty.**

**"I'm missing something."**

**Taylor stepped back, Leon looked up at him.**

**"Kevin, I have to tell you something."**

**"You're pregnant."**

**Taylor**** was shocked. Leon managed to keep his face blank.**

**Kevin, the world shifting, and not just from liquor, said, "So this is the part where I eat shit right?"**

**Taylor**** touched his arm and he moved back. He saw the flash of pain on her face and hated it.**

**But fuck it. He was hurting. And, not for the first time in his life, he cursed the fact that he was so damn drunk, he was about to make an ass out of himself.**

**Leon**** stood.**

**The air had just dropped a good ten degrees.**

**Kevin looked between the two of them. Who was he kidding? These two people could never really love him. Leon was the perfect father figure.**

**Handsome, compassionate, loving, supportive.******

**What was Kevin? A drunk. Just like his father. **

**He laughed, harshly, and he knew it sounded more like pain then humor. **

**"Well congrats, right? Send me an invite to the wedding."**

**He hated the pity on Kennedy's face, hated the grief on Taylor's.**

**He hated _himself._ He'd hoped, oh he'd hoped, that somehow it was all going to work…**

**He tipped his hat. "Ho ho ho kids. Santa's gotta go share his gifts with some other lucky kiddies."**

**Kevin slipped a little as he went for the door but he kept going. **

**By the time he hit the door, he was running.**

**Leon**** said, "Let him go."**

**Taylor**** was already trying to go after him.**

**"Let him go." **

**He understood. All too well. In Kevin's place, he'd have done a lot worse. **

**…..**

**The door opened.**

**He'd been crying. His eyes were swollen from it, blood shot. **

**He felt like he was eye level and sinking fast.**

**David looked at him for a long moment, called himself a fool, and stepped back.**

**The door closed, softly.**

**Kevin's mouth was on his, hot, heavy…desperate.**

**David understood. **

**The Stetson slid to the floor, bounced. **

**There was a rustle of clothing, the sound of panting, the squeak of bed springs as they fell across it. **

**Hungry, starving, they sated themselves on each other. Each was struggling. With inner demons, with pain and shared horror. **

**David gorged himself on the taste of flesh, on the tiny sparkling promise of something more.**

**A zipper.**** A moan.**

**Slick, hot bodies in the fevered dark.******

**The candle on the dresser gutted, the tiny orange flame dancing as it sank into its self. As they sank into each other.**

**Kevin took David's face in his hands, "I need you."**

**David met his eyes, little more then dark pools in the wavering shadows. **

**He answered him with a kiss.**

**….**

**Yoko huddled in the bottom of the shower. **

**He was sleeping. She hoped he was sleeping.**

**She couldn't face him.**

**Her tears fell, harsh on the softness of her cheeks. He'd been gentle, he was always gentle. **

**But she felt dirty, tainted. **

**Something had slid through her mind while she was curled around him in the makeshift twilight.**

**Blood.**** Screaming. A man…? A monster. And Wesker...laughing…**

**It had slipped away as quickly as it'd come. She'd desperately tried to get it back…**

**Wesker.**

**She couldn't remember!**

**Zombies.**** Monsters. Raccoon City. William Birkin…**

**William Birkin! They'd worked together. Hadn't they?**

**Sherry…Sherry was…**

**The bathroom door opened.**

**Desperately, she wiped at her cheeks, stood.**

**"Yoko?"**

**"Hmm?"******

**"Are you almost done?"**

**"Yes of course."**

**"Good. I have a gift for you."**

**The door closed again.**

**She sank to the floor…and sobbed.**

**…..**

**Taylor sat on the edge of the bed, her legs curled under herself. People were laughing outside the hotel, jovially, merry souls.**

**Kevin. She hurt.**

**Leon**** came out of the bathroom; knelt on the floor in front of her.**

**She took his face.**

**There was nothing to say. Nothing that could be said.**

**She kissed him.**

**Someone was knocking.**

**Leon**** stood and Taylor knew they were both thinking the same thing: that it was Kevin.**

**She turned.**

**Leon**** opened the door.**

**She saw his back tense, opened her mouth to speak…**

**Leon**** looked at the person standing there; looked at the shiny gun in their hand.**

**A soft voice said, "Merry Christmas."**

**And pulled the trigger.******


	17. Seventeen: And of darkness

**Riding toward the conclusion.**** This is more of an interlude before the final showdown. It's short but it will all work itself out. **

**Let me know what you think.**

**Silvergato****, my newest reviewer, Thanks for the support! I hope you enjoy the twists that will be coming. It's gonna get dirty. Mwhahaha.**

**As always Cannibal Jello, you are my most steadfast reviewing buddy. Really boosts a girl ego to have someone like you backing her.**

**Seventeen- And out of the darkness…**

**Time spun, a thousand different fragments that glittered, swirled, and whipped into a frenzy.**

**As if from a seat high above himself, he watched the flash of the muzzle, heard Taylor scream.**

**He had a moment to glance at the Kevlar vest that lay uselessly on the nightstand and he was falling, falling, down.**

**There was sound of screaming, the crash of something breaking.**

**He saw himself roll, saw himself reach…but something was sticking out of his chest. There was blood…his limbs ached.**

**Taylor**** was screaming.**

**He reached, reached and his head hit the floor. There was nothing but emptiness.**

**…..**

**David was very still.**

**Kevin had just drifted into sleep pressed against his shoulder, on the swell of his chest.**

**He was afraid if he moved…**

**The cop had wanted it frantic, fast. David's head was still reeling.**

**He glanced at the wall. **

**There were deep groove marks from where the head board had slammed into it. **

**David was elated, and afraid to be. He knew what he'd just given Kevin had been probably nothing more then comfort. **

**He imagined Officer Ryman as the type of mind to find comfort in sex. David was more likely to find comfort in a dark corner somewhere.**

**Kevin's hand trailed over his stomach. David looked at the whiteness of Kevin's fingers against the darkness of David's flesh. It was startling and made his stomach flutter, just a little.**

**David tilted his head down, brushed his lips over the softness of Kevin's hair.**

**The cop murmured, snuggled closer. **

**David slid his hand down, over the dampness of Kevin's back, along the slope of his buttocks.**

**Kevin woke slowly. **

**He said, "Hi."**

**David glanced at his face in the darkness. "Hi."**

**Kevin moved a little, leaned up on one elbow. "Do I owe you an apology?"**

**David shifted, felt the aches in his body, the soreness. He'd never felt better. "For what?"**

**"You think I used you."**

**David looked at him. "You did."**

**"Yeah.**** Fuck." Kevin started to roll to the edge of the bed. "I didn't…come here to use you. I just needed-"**

**David touched his back. "It's okay Kev. I know."**

**Kevin stared at his feet in the darkness. "Can I stay here…with you?"**

**_YES!_**

**David smiled. "Sure."**

**Kevin grinned, rolled back into the bed. **

**Their mouths hesitated over each other. Each was asking for permission.**

**They came together with a long sigh.**

**David rolled, splayed himself atop of the other man. He worked a hand between their bodies, down the hard length of his chest.**

**He moved his mouth downward, felt Kevin's stomach muscles clench, tight enough to bounce a quarter off of.**

**They heard it at the same time. **

**The screaming.******

**They were out of the bed and moving at the same time.**

**David slipped on his jeans, Kevin was close behind him as they ran for the door.**

**With a jerk of the knob, light from the hallway spilled in, impossibly bright.**

**David blinked against it.**

**Surprised, he looked at the blood soaked person in front of him. **

**"Alyssa?"**

**She smiled, lifted the gun. "I'm sorry Dave."**

**David had a moment to feel the shock and Kevin hit him, hard in the side.**

**The shot went wide, smashing into the wall just beyond David's shoulder.**

**Kevin kicked backward, slamming the door closed before she could turn and aim for another shot.**

**David hissed, "What the fuck!?"**

**"Shh." Kevin wasn't a lover anymore. He was a cop. "Get in the bathroom, lock the door."**

**"I don't need you to protect me."**

**"If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead."**

**They looked at each other. David capitulated first. He got up, grabbed his tool belt, and went into the bathroom.**

**Kevin crouched under the door, shirtless, trying to get a plan in order.**

**Alyssa was out there. She was…crazy.**

**First rule of apprehension, try to talk the person down.**

**"Alyssa?"**

**Her voice was sing-song, high pitched and not her own. "Kevvy…oh Kevvy…open the door."**

**"Alyssa, why don't you put the gun down?"**

**"Little pig little pig let me in."**

**He gritted his teeth. She was out of her damn mind.**

**He was weaponless. **

**She started beating on the door and he pressed his back against it, careful to stay sitting.**

**If he stood, depending on the caliber of her gun, she could fire straight through the wood. He'd be dead before he could run.**

**The bathroom door opened.**

**"Come on!"**

**David's voice was quiet. He gestured. He'd pried the window open above the sink.**

**They could go that way, pull themselves out.**

**Kevin figured it was probably less then a story drop to the ground.**

**They'd be able to hit it on a roll.**

**Kevin reached upward, turned the lock on the door and waved his arm.**

**David was already climbing out the window when Kevin crawled into the bathroom; pulled himself up onto the sink.**

**The window wasn't very wide. For a moment, he was afraid he wouldn't fit through. **

**But it was too late. With a push, he was up, and going through.**

**He saw David fall, saw him execute a perfect roll. **

**The plumber was agile.**

**Kevin shoved and started falling.**

**He heard the crash, heard the high squeal of anger…and fell into a roll. **

**He came out hard, jamming his knee with a curse.**

**David was grabbing his arm.**

**They ran across the snow covered ground. It was gonna be a blizzard.**

**Kevin had a moment to realize he could barely see and they were headed for the doors.**

**The shoved into the lobby.******

**The man at the desk looked like he was going to piss himself.**

**David was already going for the stairs.**

**Kevin yelled, "CALL THE COPS! There's a shooter on the second floor!"**

**They hit the stairs, still running.**

**David's voice was empty. "She had Leon's gun."**

**Kevin tried to keep the fear out of his answer. "I know."**

**David was pulling a wrench out of his tool belt as they rounded the corner.**

**They both stopped.**

**Yoko stood there, a Beretta trained on them.**

**Unlike Alyssa, she looked terrified.**

**Kevin said, "Yoko…no."**

**Her hands were wavering. "I'm so sorry."**

**David put his hands up. Kevin saw the closed look on his face. He figured he looked about the same.**

**Down the hallway, he could see the small blonde girl lying on the floor. She wasn't moving.**

**Kevin whispered, "Yoko what have you done?"**

**There were tears on her cheeks. "I'm so sorry. I can't…He tells me to do it. I can't stop myself."**

**David answered her, his voice gentle. "Yoko, you'd never hurt Sherry."**

**"I…I didn't. Alyssa…" Her hands were shaking so badly. **

**Kevin knew he could take her down but he didn't want to hurt Yoko. She was so afraid. **

**"Yoko…" He took a step forward. "Put it down."**

**Her face crumbled. "Kevin…David…help me…"**

**The door to their room opened. Kevin saw the shiny muzzle come out.**

**They were out of time.**

**David and Kevin moved.**

**David went for Yoko. He caught her in a low tackle and they went sprawling across the tacky carpet.**

**Kevin used the door as a weapon. He grabbed the handle, smashed it into Alyssa.**

**She shrieked, stumbled and he grabbed her wrists, jerked the gun free.**

**A low kick into her stomach and she collapsed, huddled in on herself to get her air back.**

**Not taking any chances, Kevin flipped the heavy gun, caught the stock, and brought it down on the back of her head.**

**She sprawled forward, out like a light.**

**David had taken Yoko's gun. She was sobbing, her arms wrapped around herself.**

**Kevin knelt by Sherry, felt the flutter of her pulse.**

**Unconscious but not shot. **

**David was wrapping Yoko's hands with electrical tape. Under the circumstances, it wasn't a bad idea.**

**She met his eyes. "David…I'm so sorry. I can't…"**

**David touched her face, smiled sadly. "It's okay. I'm sorry too." And he punched her in the face. She crumbled.**

**David figured he'd just done one of the hardest things in his life.**

**Kevin caught the electrical tape, moved to tie Alyssa up.**

**Something had gone seriously wrong.**

**David was already running. He knocked on George's door, lifted his foot to kick it in, and the doctor opened it, looking groggy but perfectly fine.**

**Kevin said, "Get it together, Doc. Check on Sherry."**

**George looked over to the people strewn about the hallway. David watched the hung over man fall away under the onslaught of the dedicated surgeon.**

**Kevin didn't both to knock on Taylor's door. He kicked it in.**

**Alyssa had been covered in blood. **

**David hit the lights.**

**Kevin's eyes blanked as they adjusted to the brightness.**

**"Jesus Christ."**

**Kevin was already running.**

**Leon**** lay on his back just inside the door. David wasn't sure but it looked like he was unharmed. There was a small silver object sticking out of his chest…a dart?**

**David wanted to remove it but it was almost dangerously close to the other man's heart.**

**Kevin saw the blood, a trail of it. **

**He hit the bathroom door with his shoulder.**

**David lifted his head.**

**There was a crash, a smash of breaking glass.**

**Kevin yelled, "Christ!"**

**Taylor**** froze. She'd smashed the lamp over his head. It was third one they'd broken in the room. **

**There was blood on her face, down the front of her pajamas.**

**Kevin staggered, rubbing his head. "Shit."**

**"Ohmigod!"**** She flung herself around him.**

**He caught her, stumbled back.**

**"Alyssa has gone crazy!"**

**David was still looking at Leon. The man was breathing but almost dangerously pale.**

**"What happened?"**

**Taylor scrambled away from Kevin, slid onto the floor beside Leon. **

**"Alyssa she just…she shot him and I started screaming. She came after me and I charged her." She was stroking Leon's hair. "She was crazy! There was something in her eyes. She kept talking about saving me. Saving us all. We fought, I hit her a few times, and escaped into the bathroom."**

**"Looks like she landed a few too."******

**Taylor**** shrugged. "She's got a good right hook."**

**David touched her arm. "Did you hit you in the stomach?"**

**"No. I made sure she didn't." She was feeling along Leon's body. "Where? Oh god where?"**

**David held up the tiny silver dart. "It's got a plunger on it."**

**Kevin shook his head. "A tranq?"**

**"I don't know."**

**Kevin picked up the gun that had fallen beside the bed. He didn't recognized the make or the model. **

**"It looks like an ampoule shooter or something."**

**"Sharp eyes, Mr. Ryman."******

**They all looked to the door. **

**Albert Wesker was pointing something at them.**

**It looked suspiciously like the gun Kevin held.**

**Wesker**** was smiling. "I do apologize but it seems the schedule needed to be reconfigured. So you'll understand if I dispense with the formalities."**

**He turned the gun.**

**It was loud in the quiet room.**

**Taylor**** screamed as David collapsed, one of the silver capsules sticking out of the back of his neck.**

**Kevin roared, charged. **

**Wesker**** laughed, executed a perfect kick into Taylor's face as she grabbed for him. **

**He pulled the trigger again.**

**Kevin slowed, his face collapsing in pain. He went down like a tree, taking the nightstand with him.**

**Wesker**** leaned over Taylor. **

**She was clutching her face. She tried to scuttle backward but he caught a handful of her hair.**

**"A shame really. You're quite beautiful. Wish there would have been a little more time for us."**

**She spit in his face.**

**He laughed as it rolled down his sunglasses, slid across his cheek. **

**The gun sounded. **

**She felt her eyes widen. His face blurred, mutated, and faded into black.**


	18. Eighteen: Comes the Light

**So we're reaching the end…maybe…**

**Things are picking up again. The actions back. **

**Silvergato-I'm the honored one. **

**Morbidgypsy- I'm so glad you like it. It's wonderful to have someone as obsessed as I am. I hope I can keep you entertained.**

**Jello-Here we go.**

**Eighteen-…Comes the Light**

**His head was bumping into something. It hurt. It hurt badly.**

**His eyes slid open. He was lying on the floor board of a van. **

**He moved his hands, just to see if he could. No such luck. They were tightly bound behind him.**

**Leon**** held himself perfectly still.**

**Someone was talking.**

**"….well. No there's no reason for concern. It will be taken care of. She's been quite helpful." A pause. "Naturally she can't be left alive. She'd make a wonderful candidate for breeding program. I'm sure she'll be delighted to hear it."**

**Leon**** could hear someone crying.**

**"No of course not. Yes I've chartered a flight for the survivors. Of course. They're sedated and bound. They won't be a problem. Naturally. Yes. Until then."**

**Leon**** felt the hum of the vehicle. It was all coming back to him.**

**Alyssa, the gun, Taylor screaming.**

**A tranquilizer. It explained the weakness in his limbs.**

**He wanted to sleep. Instead, he moved his eyes a little. He didn't want to shift too much, didn't want the person driving to know he was awake.**

**Yoko.**

**She was sitting on the floor in front of him. She wasn't bound.**

**His mind seemed slower then usual. Yoko had betrayed them.**

**She met his eyes.**

**She'd been sobbing. **

**He waited for her to yell, to raise the alarm.**

**But she just sat there, watching him.**

**The car bumped along as they looked at each other. **

**And then she was leaning forward, her face terribly frightened, she was pulling at his bonds. **

**From the front of the van, that voice again. "Yoko?"**

**She froze. "Yes?"**

**"What are you doing?"**

**"He was waking. I was going to knock him out again."**

**"Well do it quickly."**

**"Yes."**

**Yoko leaned down by Leon's ear, whispered. "I'm so sorry." She freed his hands.**

**He looked at her as he pulled out the gag in his mouth, wanted to ask why, but he didn't say a word.**

**Kevin and George were bound much the same as him. They were still unconscious but seemed unharmed otherwise.**

**He wondered where the other's were. **

**Taylor, Sherry, Alyssa, David…they weren't in the van.**

**Leon**** kept perfectly still. He couldn't panic. Dead, he couldn't help anyone.**

**He looked at Yoko and she seemed to understand what he was asking for. Help.**

**She stood, walked to the front of the van and sat in the seat. **

**He heard her talking with the driver, quietly.**

**Leon moved quickly, careful to stay under the view from the rearview mirror.**

**Kevin was just waking. **

**Leon put a finger to his lips, pulled at the other man's bonds.**

**The van was rolling to a stop. They were out of time.**

**Kevin jerked his legs loose, went to work on George who was just starting to come around.**

**They had one chance. If they lost the element of surprise, it was over.**

**The van door started to open.**

**The minute he saw the sunglasses, Leon kicked.**

**Caught off guard by the brutal blow to the face, Wesker stumbled. His sunglasses went spinning.**

**Leon**** caught the edge of the van and leapt out in a perfect buffalo kick. He caught the other man in the chest, sending him off balance. Wesker hit the ground.**

**Kevin was impressed. The rookie had some serious moves.**

**Leon**** was lifting the other man by the throat when Kevin managed to get out of the van.**

**Yoko came around the side.**

**Leon**** was smashing Wesker into the closed door of the van.**

**Kevin, seeing the gun in Yoko's hand, wrapped his arms around her, pinning her in his arms, her back to his front.**

**She whispered, "Thank you."**

**Another van was roaring into the parking lot. **

**Kevin yelled, "Kennedy! Get his gun!"**

**Leon**** yanked the gun from Wesker's holster, landed a solid right hook to his face, and tossed him to the ground.**

**The van skidded to a stop and Barry Burton jumped out of the drivers seat.**

**Kevin said, "Shit."**

**The big man was coming toward them, aiming the Magnum.**

**Yoko whispered, "Knock me out. Or tie me up. Please. I can't deny him when he tells me to do something."**

**Leon**** turned Wesker's gun on Barry.**

**They had each other at gun point.**

**"Drop it!"**

**There was nothing of the gentle man in Barry's face. He had the same look in his eyes that had been in Alyssa's.**

**Leon looked at him, steady. "Barry, I'm giving you one chance. Look at me. We're friends."**

**But Barry's face was only filled with that screaming insanity. Whatever Wesker had done to him, it wasn't going to be reversed with a few caring words.**

**Wesker was still sprawled on the pavement.**

**Kevin herded Yoko into the van. She didn't protest when he took her hands and tied them, when he did the same to her feet. **

**George was sitting up. **

**Kevin was quick to remove his gag, untie his hands. "George stay in here with Yoko. If she…tries anything. Knock her out."**

**George's eyes widened but Yoko was nodding.**

**"Thank you. Thank you."**

**Kevin could hear Barry and Leon shouting at each other.**

**He jumped out of the truck, already moving to tie Wesker. The blonde man was shifting, trying to sit up.**

**Kevin kicked him in the face. Because it felt good.**

**Wesker rolled, spit blood.**

**Kevin started tying his hands. "How does it feel, you bastard?"**

**Wesker had nothing but amusement on his face. "You're wasting your time."**

**"Uh-huh." Kevin jerked the bonds, tight. He felt Wesker tense in pain. **

**Wesker said, "Mr. Burton, shoot Officer Kennedy. I tire of these games."**

**Leon**** put the gun up a notch. "Don't do it Barry. You shoot me, you die with me."**

**Something slid through Barry's eyes, some sign of what he'd been.**

**There was a loud clank.**

**Leon watched Barry slide toward the ground, his eyes rolling up in his head.**

**David flipped the wrench in his hand. He looked to Wesker. "You're next."**

**Kevin tied Wesker's feet. "Where's Alyssa?"**

**"In the van. She hasn't moved and she's bound. Which makes me think Wesker's juice wore off."**

**Wesker sighed. "I warned them that increased heart rate, heightened emotion, would up the metabolic rate."**

**Leon**** turned the gun on him. "Well isn't that just a shame."**

**"If you're going to shoot me, Officer Kennedy, I suggest you do so. The transport plane will be here shortly and I promise your little resistance will be quickly laid to waste."**

**Leon**** smiled and a gun sounded, close beside him.**

**Wesker slumped to the ground, blood gushing from the hole in his chest.**

**David was holding Barry's .357. **

**Leon looked at him, surprised.**

**"Sorry. I'm sick of his laugh. Grates on my nerves."**

**Leon couldn't help it, he laughed. "You stole my glory."**

**David grinned. "Let's get the fuck out of here. I'll drive the other van."**

**Kevin said, "What about Barry?"**

**They loaded him into the van, made certain he was tied up. **

**Leon**** took the keys off of Wesker's bleeding corpse and got behind the wheel.**

**In a matter of minutes, they were speeding down the road.**

**He looked at Kevin, "Any idea where we're going?"**

**"Nope. Just drive."**

**They rode in silence for a good ten minutes.**

**"Listen, Kevin," Leon tried to think of the right words. "We weren't…eh..we didn't plan anything like this."**

**Kevin leaned his head back on the head rest. It was fucking cold in the van and he was shirtless. "I know. Hell none of us planned any of this."**

**Leon ran his hands over the steering wheel, a nervous gesture. "So…You and Dave…both shirtless…"**

**Kevin rolled his head on the head rest, looked at Leon. "Jealous?"**

**Leon**** shrugged, seemed uncomfortable. It made Kevin feel great.**

**"You guys…gonna date or something?"**

**Kevin smirked. "Maybe. Probably. He's a great guy."**

**Leon**** was focusing on the road. "So you're gay now?"**

**Kevin couldn't help the laugh. "I just don't feel the need to deny myself both sides of the street anymore."**

**Leon**** nodded. "Well…uh…"**

**Kevin looked at him. "Don't hurt yourself, kid. I know what you're trying to say. I love you too."**

**Leon****'s cheeks pinked. "For what it's worth, we would have had good times."**

**"Yeah." Kevin sighed. "Yeah and she would have chose you anyway."**

**Leon**** looked at him, considering. "Why do you say that?"**

**"Oh come on." Kevin looked at the other man. He'd beat Wesker's ass without breaking a sweat. "Where'd you learn to move like that?"**

**Leon**** shrugged. "I was in the service for a few years before I went to the Academy."**

**Kevin lifted a brow. "Like what branch? The Marines?"**

**Leon**** focused a little harder on the road. He seemed embarrassed. "The Army Rangers."**

**Kevin whistled, low. "Man oh man. You left the Rangers to become a cop?"**

**"I'm not a soldier."**

**Kevin laughed. "No, you're not a soldier. If you were a Ranger, you're a lethal weapon."**

**Leon**** looked at him. "Okay…" He ran his hands over the wheel. "If I'm jealous…does it matter?"**

**Kevin smirked. "I don't know. I've always been jealous of you."**

**Leon**** seemed surprised. "Why?"**

**"Cause you're perfect. Everything about you. I couldn't compare to you if I tried."**

**"That's horse shit." Leon glanced over at him. "From what I hear, you're a paragon in the sack."**

**Kevin smiled, just a little. "You should know."**

**Ah it was priceless. The rookie was blushing again.**

**Kevin snickered. "So…a daddy. How does that feel?"**

**Leon**** puffed out a long breath. "Honestly. I feel like I might shit my pants. I don't know anything about kids."**

**Kevin guffawed, slapped his arm. "Oh that's good. That's great. I thought you were going to be like superdad."**

**Leon**** smirked. "Yeah I wasn't planning to have kids till I was at least thirty."**

**Kevin made a face. "Hmm…I'm thirty."**

**Leon**** glanced at him. "Oh yeah. You're an old man."**

**"Piss off."**

**Snickering.**

**"Alright," Leon huffed. "I guess I love you."**

**"Thanks rookie. I feel all cuddly inside."**

**"Bite me."**

**Kevin sighed. "Not sure what it changes. You're gonna have a baby. Don't think the kid would adjust well to mommy and daddy and uncle Kevin bumpin uglies."**

**Leon**** was quiet for a moment. "Do you love David?"**

**Kevin thought this was a tricky question. "I don't know. I think I could. And that scares me."**

**"Why?"**

**"He's like….not somebody I could just love and leave. He's not Cindy. He's gonna want the whole package. I don't know if I can do that."**

**Leon**** nodded. "You don't think Taylor would have wanted that?"**

**"It's different."**

**"Cause she's a woman?"**

**It was a good question. "Partly. I had a lot of shit go wrong in my life. Mostly having to do with men. I don't know if I can ever look at David, and not have part of that still haunt me."**

**Leon**** seemed confused. "But you were with me."**

**"Ah," Kevin slid his hands in his hair. "See that's the sticking point. I don't know if I could ever be with you, without Taylor."**

**"I understand that. I feel the same way."**

**"See?" He leaned back. "She's our catalyst. Without her, we'd just fizzle." He looked at Leon. "You're not gay."**

**Leon**** made a face. "Should I apologize for that?"**

**"No of course not. You're curious and that's great." Kevin smirked. "More then great. But I don't think, without Taylor, that you'd ever go down the man only route."**

**Leon**** seemed to be considering. "No. I think you're right. I don't think I'd be able to be more then occasional lovers with a man."**

**"See?" Kevin shifted. "I'm not sure I can either. And David deserves someone that can."**

**"I think you're selling yourself short."**

**Kevin looked at him, surprised. "How's that?"**

**Leon**** shrugged. "You're better then that."**

**Kevin sighed. "Kennedy, I think you're flirting with me."**

**Leon**** grinned. "Can't help myself. I dig the old guys."**

**"Prick."**

**They laughed together.**

**There was a squeal tires and the sound of a horn blaring.**

**Leon glanced over to see David, gesturing wildly.**

**They heard it at the same time. The loud whomping of  helicopter blades, the heavy roar of engines.**

**Leon**** grabbed the steering. "Hang on."**

**He watched Kevin throw on his seat belt.**

**"George! Grab Yoko. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."**

**He hit the gas.**

**…..**

**Taylor**** grabbed hold of the handle on the door. **

**David was driving like a maniac.**

**He spun the wheel and the van went onto two wheels, barely staying upright, as they raced around a ninety-degree curve.**

**Alyssa smashed into the side of the van with a moan. She was still out of it which was probably better.**

**They rocketed along after Leon's van. **

**The helicopter was still circling them. There was the sound of glass breaking.**

**She was suddenly huddling in the seat to avoid the smatter of gunfire that plunked into the rear doors.**

**Sherry was crying.**

**David ground out. "Get under the dashboard. NOW!"**

**Taylor**** all but leapt to do what he'd said.**

**A moment later there was the sound of metal popping. The helicopter had opened fire from above.**

**Taylor**** couldn't contain the squeal.**

**She put her arms over her face, tucked her knees under her chin, and prayed.**

**There was a dip, the van spun, David cursed. She thought they were going to flip.**

**But somehow, he got control again.**

**She heard scraping sounds and realized they must have veered out into the forest.**

**She shouted, "The others?"**

**"They're still in front of us."**

**That was good. Everyone was still alive.**

**The van jerked, bumped. She knew, at least for a moment, that they were airborne.**

**The glass of her window shattered and she screamed. Shards rained down onto her head.**

**"Stay down!"**

**She hadn't moved.**

**David jerked the wheel hard to the left, barely missing a giant redwood.**

**More glass shattering. She heard David grunt and felt the warmth of blood splatter her face.**

**"David!"**

**"I'm fine! Don't get up!"**

**She listened to him.**

**Metal screamed, bullets thumped into the seat above her head. She heard the loud crash of the windshield smashing and the sound of David beating at the rest of the glass with his arm.**

**Then she heard it, the hissing. **

**He said, "Fuck! It's gonna blow!"**

**She was scrambling into the back, yanking on Alyssa. David hitting the brakes as the van careened onto its side, started to slide.**

**He was throwing himself atop Sherry.**

**Taylor heard the explosion, saw the front of the van erupt, heard the rapid squeal of metal.**

**The van flipped, end over end. **

**She smashed into the ceiling, slammed hard into the side. Her head racked something and her vision went splotchy.**

**There was a crunch, loud enough that her ear drums started to ring, and they van stopped, abruptly.**

**The force of the stop had her body falling, gravity yanking her downward.**

**The engine was blazing.**

**David was already moving.**

**The van had all but become scrap metal. She was amazed they hadn't been flattened.**

**He was fox crawling with Sherry clinging to him like a monkey.**

**Taylor moved on her belly, yanked at Alyssa, desperately trying to bring her along.**

**"David!" Her scream was quiet against the roar of fire. "I can't move her!"**

**David was pushing Sherry. "Go! Climb out through the window!"**

**They yanked on Alyssa. It was harder to breathe. The smoke made it impossible to see.**

**She knew they had seconds, minutes, before the van erupted and took them with it.**

**Panic made her stronger, gave her muscles in places she didn't know she had them.**

**They rushed for the window both of them terrified they wouldn't make it.**

**It was too far, Alyssa too heavy…**

**And they were out of time.**

**…….**

**"JESUS CHRIST!"**

**Leon**** saw the van explode and felt his chest tighten so hard his vision went black for a moment.**

**He jerked the wheel, heard the side of the van give with a crunch as it slammed into a tree.**

**They were both diving out of the van.**

**George leapt out of the back with Yoko. He'd cut her bonds. **

**They were all running through the darkness, toward the fire.**

**The world was on fire.**

**Leon**** could hear the helicopter circling, saw the bright wash from a search light.**

**He grabbed Kevin. "Wait!"**

**"What?"**

**"If they spot us, we won't be any good to anyone." He was thinking, fast. "We have to make a diversion."**

**"I'm gonna cut the fuel line. We light this mother fucker up, they might just think we're dead."**

**There was the sound of shouting.**

**The men from the chasing cars were after them on foot.**

**"We gotta get rid of that chopper. Other wise we're all dead."**

**Yoko was already crouched under the end of the van. She'd taken Barry's survival knife and was hacking at the fuel line.**

**She'd have given anything to have David with them. The man was a machine genius and his tool belt was the most useful thing she'd ever seen.**

**Gas plopped on her forehead.**

**"Okay! It's done!"**

**Leon**** said, "Start running!"**

**He slid behind the wheel, turned the key, threw on the emergency brake, and hit the gas.**

**The engine roared, tires spinning uselessly. With enough friction, the gas would heat.**

**He leapt out of the car, backed up while he aimed.**

**With one shot from the Magnum, the fuel tank exploded. **

**Fire leapt upward, immediate, consuming.**

**He was too close.**

**The force of the blast threw him backward, had him skidding along snow, smashing into a tree.**

**He gained his feet without much effort. His back was sore but the fire was blazing, catching trees around it.**

**Kevin and Yoko were already close to the other blaze.**

**Leon didn't think about Taylor, couldn't think about Taylor.**

**Dead, he was useless to her.**

**He crouched near the tree, listening, his eyes probing the darkness.**

**He could still hear the men shouting, here the heavy crunch of foot steps on snow. How close? Twenty meters? Ten?**

**He closed his eyes, they were deceiving him anyway.**

**Instinct. He had it. He just had to shut everything out and use it.**

**Crunch.**

**He turned, opened his eyes.**

**There was a man close to the van, illuminated by the firelight.**

**Was he wearing Kevlar? Leon couldn't tell.**

**He aimed.**

**The .357 jerked; the sound loud in the crackling night.**

**The man put a hand to his throat. Blood stained red on the snow.**

**Screaming. More footsteps.**

**Leon**** shot before the second man cleared the edge of his vision.**

**The searchers were frantic now. Two men down.**

**One started yelling, "They're armed!"**

**_Thunk. Thunk_****. **

**Bullets smashed into the tree beside his head. Bark sprayed, sharp in his eyes.**

**He'd been spotted.**

**Leon**** returned fire.**

**The men scattered.**

**He had to move, quickly.**

**Leon**** started running.**

**There was a rush of something hot and fast beside his head. He veered over, felt more shots throw snow up around his feet.**

**"Get down!"**

**He did.**

**Kevin was firing above his head with Wesker's gun.**

**Someone screamed. **

**"Kennedy! MOVE!"**

**Leon**** rolled, more out of instinct then from the warning.**

**A boot smashed into the snow where his head had been.**

**He grabbed the foot, twisted.**

**Barry collapsed onto the ground beside him, roaring.**

**The two men looked at each other in the firelight. Both men with hair the same color as the flames that licked the night around them.**

**Barry smashed one giant arm into his chest. **

**Leon**** grunted, lost his balance. The Magnum slid across the snow.**

**More gun shots. Yoko was shouting.**

**Leon didn't think, just moved.**

**Barry's fist crashed into the tree a second after he moved his head and rolled.**

**He had to get his feet. On his back, he was dead.**

**Leon**** lifted his foot; smashed it into the other man's knee. Barry stumbled.**

**Leon scrambled to his feet, faced off against the giant.**

**As far as brute strength went, he was out classed.**

**Barry rushed him.**

**Leon had a moment to duck, go to one knee, shove his shoulder forward.**

**He threw Barry into a text book shoulder throw, using the man's own speed as a propeller.**

**He heard him land hard on his back.**

**Leon****'s face was little more then bared teeth as he turned and charged.**

**……**

**Taylor**** could feel David pressing her into the snow.**

**She opened her eyes, looked into his face.**

**Their noses were touching.**

**She could feel the heat of the fire. They'd made it. **

**Alyssa lay on her side beside them, half buried under snow. **

**Sherry was sobbing.**

**Taylor felt David shift, climb off of her.**

**They were maybe twenty feet from the fire. They'd barely cleared the van before the blast had blown them back, up, out.**

**David's back was a mass of welts, singed flesh.**

**He'd leapt on top of her. To protect her from the fire.**

**Touched, she took a handful of snow, gently rubbed it over his abraded skin. **

**He hissed.**

**"Taylor!"**

**George.**

**She turned, waved her arms. "George!"**

**The air above them was silent, dark. The helicopter was gone.**

**George was limping toward them.**

**The firelight flickered. She saw the man.**

**"GEORGE!"**

**She started running.**

**The gun sounded just as she reached him. Her arms were already out when he tumbled forward.**

**She caught him, went to her knees with the force of his weight.**

**A roar.**

**David was rushing the gun man.**

**"DAVID!"**

**Everything was happening too fast.**

**George was breathing, too fast, too harsh.**

**She could hear guns booming. Someone was screaming.**

**George was bleeding, badly.**

**She rolled him, cradled him in her lap. "George…"**

**Blood poured as he talked. "Nicked the lung…bloody bastards…" He coughed in a fine crimson wash.**

**She pressed her hands over his chest. Blood spurted between her finger tips.**

**He caught her hand, his eyes already glazed. "Hurts…"**

**"George!" **

**She watched him die, held him as the light left his eyes.**

**"TAYLOR!"**

**She looked up. Kevin was rushing across the snow toward her.**

**He was too far. The man was closer.**

**The figure stopped, lifted the gun.**

**She couldn't move. She was paralyzed with grief, with fear.**

**Yoko.**

**The girl tackled the man. They fell backward together into the darkness.**

**The man's gun went off.**

**Taylor**** shook herself free of her prison. Gently, she laid George in the snow, brushed a hand over his eyes.**

**A bullet whined, smashed into a tree beside her head.**

**The fear slid away, smothered under rage. Why wouldn't they just let them _live?!_**

**Kevin was grappling with the shooter. She saw the man lift the gun, press it into Kevin's chest.**

**"NO!"**

**She was already running.**

**She leapt, locked herself on the man's back, screaming. **

**He tumbled forward into the snow with Taylor locked around him like a monkey.**

**The man was yelling.**

**She grabbed his head; beat it over and over and over against the ground. She kept beating it into the earth, long after his helmet tumbled clear, long after blood stained the snow.**

**Kevin was lifting her, pulling her away.**

**"David!"**

**She spun, searched the darkness for him.**

**"Yoko!"**

**There was a crunch. She could make out David's face, a mask of rage. He'd broken the other man's neck.**

**Yoko was crawling toward them, leaving a trail of blood behind her in the snow.**

**They reached her at the same time.**

**Kevin lifted her, held her close to him.**

**She was crying. "All my fault…all my fault…"**

**"Shhh." He cradled her. "Where are you hurt?"**

**"So sorry…sorry…"**

**"Yoko! Where?"**

**"Shoulder…the shoulder…"**

**Taylor**** left her with Kevin. **

**David had gone to check on Alyssa and Sherry.**

**She could hear the fighting, see the flicker of shadows in the firelight.**

**And she _knew._**

**"LEON!"**

**She started running.**

**She saw Leon whip his body around, execute a perfect roundhouse kick. Barry staggered but didn't go down.**

**Barry caught Leon's leg, jerked until the other man went down on his hands and knees.**

**He was grabbing Leon's hair, yanking him up.**

**She leapt onto Barry's back.**

**He let go of Leon, reached back. She grabbed a handful of Barry's hair, yanked hard.**

**He roared, grabbed her throat in his hands and flipped her.**

**She wasn't strong enough to hold on. Air rushed over her as she went up, came down hard. **

**Barry grabbed her hair and kicked her, hard in the stomach.**

**She wretched, started to vomit when he caught her throat, lifted her up, up, off the ground.**

**Taylor scrambled her hands at his, dug in her nails, choking, choking, drawing blood.**

**She kicked him, once, twice, three times. Her vision was graying. **

**There was a loud sound and his body jerked, once, twice. His hands eased on her throat as his eyes slid downward, stared at the red stains that were rapidly spreading along his chest and stomach.**

**He lowered her downward, almost gently to the ground.**

**She watched his eyes and knew the moment he came back to himself.**

**"Taylor?" His face collapsed in pain as he tumbled forward, face down in the snow.**

**She went to her knees and vomited.**

**Leon**** was there, kneeling. "Taylor? Taylor?"**

**She heaved, wiped her mouth. "I'm alright. I'm okay."**

**He gathered her close.**

**She whispered, "Leon…George…Barry…"**

**"I know." He stood, lifted her into his arms.**

**Kevin's voice came, soft over the crackling flames. "We gotta start moving. They'll be back."**

**Taylor**** touched Leon's shoulder. "I can walk."**

**He let her stand. She was shaky but she could stand.**

**Kevin looked down at Barry's body. "I'm sorry buddy."**

**Alyssa came out the darkness. **

**Leon**** lifted the gun, aimed it at her face, and then lowered it.**

**She was carrying Sherry. The horror on her face was enough.**

**Yoko was pressing a hand to her shoulder.**

**Wesker's control was broken.**

**Leon**** took off his coat; passed it to Kevin. **

**David's voice was gruff, "Where do we go?"**

**Leon**** looked out toward the fire, off into the night. "Anywhere but here."**


	19. Nineteen: Losing Grip

**So this chapter was painful to write. I ended up depressing myself. Which could mean its that good….or that bad.**

**You guys decide. **

**Thanks again to Gato and Jello and Gypsy for reading. Hope this one doesn't send you screaming for the hills.**

**;;**

**Nineteen-Losing Grip**

**It was too cold. **

**The inertia crept into the bones, slid down the spine and over the skin like fingers, like ice. **

**Whatever beauty there might have been was lost in the arctic grip of winter. There was the promise of death. It might have been a whisper, instead it was a taunt. Beckoning, calling from arms filled with apathy.**

**Mother Nature was a sociopath. She had no feeling for a small, struggling group of survivors who were desperately making their way through her perilous wasteland. **

**What once would have been a pleasant stroll through a forest was now a pathetic sojourn for safety.**

**Where they'd survived horror, destruction, and disease…the cold might very well kill them.**

**The night was filled with nothing. **

**No stars, no moon, no suggestion of life to guide their way. It was nothing more then darkness that seemed to stretch into nowhere.**

**Silhouettes, suggestions of life were a lie. They quickly revealed themselves to be nothing more then another leafless tree, another wasted bit of life struggling to survive the long winter.**

**Yoko was flagging, badly. She'd bleed out if they didn't get somewhere, quickly.**

**Alyssa supported her as best as she could. Her fingers had gone numb long ago, she was moving only in desperation, nothing but sheer force of will guiding her hand.**

**They were going to die out here. Once, the heat of Sherry had been soothing, now it was just the cold comfort of another body.**

**David's back no longer ached from the burns, his entire body was empty, a vessel. His mind had long ago disconnected the pain.**

**They'd taken anything they could off of the dead soldiers. **

**Kevin and David wore long sleeved black shirts, matching pairs of combat boots. Sherry was wrapped in one of the men's down jackets. Yoko and Alyssa shared another of the jackets. Taylor was bundled inside a third, her feet in a pair of boots stuffed with extra socks, tied tightly at the ankles, an ill fitting pair of pants. **

**They'd each swiped a pair of the men's heavily insulated gloves.**

**They'd been walking for more then an hour. It could have been two or four. Time meant nothing. They were lost, they were forsaken.**

**Yoko slipped, went to one knee. She refused to get up.**

**"Yoko…" Alyssa knelt by her.**

**"I can't…" Yoko's face was too pale, her eyes too wide. "I can't…" **

**She started crying.**

**Kevin moved, picked Yoko up. She tried to resist.**

**"Leave me!"**

**Kevin said nothing, started walking.**

**"Kevin! Leave me here!" She shaking badly.**

**Taylor**** had paused. "Yoko be quiet now. We're not leaving you." It hurt to talk, her face was numb.**

**"It's all my fault." Yoko was sliding rapidly into delirium. "This is all my fault."**

**Kevin kissed her forehead. His lips were numb, he couldn't even feel it. "Shush."**

**They trudged onward.**

**In the distance, a suggestion, a shimmer.**** A building?**

**But it was lost, just like that. A lie.**

**Alyssa whispered, "Thank god."**

**It wasn't a lie.**

**There was a cabin. Smoke plumbed upward out of an obviously piping chimney.**

**It was little more then a tiny dot in the distance.**

**Alyssa started running.**

**The blizzard had hit and hit hard. They were soaked, they were frightened, they were knee deep in snow. Still it fell, relentless, unfeeling.**

**They were almost there. It could be more then a hundred yards.**

**A dog was barking, rapidly.**

**Taylor**** made a sound.**

**Leon turned his head, looked at her.**

**Her face was pale; patches of ice had formed on her face, on her eyelids.**

**"Taylor?" His voice sounded hollow, loud in the illusion of silence.**

**"I'm alright." Her voice was breathy. "Just a twinge."**

**Leon**** felt like his brain was desperately trying to function. He was so cold.**

**He put his arm around her and tried not to be concerned when she leaned heavily against him.**

**They were almost upon the house.**

**The dog, a large shaggy looking thing, was barking, barking, running in circles.**

**The door of the house opened. "Frye, be quiet now. Be quiet."**

**The woman started to close the door…and saw them.**

**"Oh my god."**** She turned over her shoulder. "Roarke! Come quickly!"**

**She came out into the snow. **

**Alyssa reached her first, put her arms around the woman in a fierce hug. **

**"Oh my god…oh thank god." She started crying.**

**The woman, in a flannel nightgown with long dark hair that spilled down her back, put her arms around Alyssa. "You poor thing." She patted her back.**

**A man came out onto the porch of the log cabin. "Merryl? What's…"**

**He trailed off. "Bloody hell."**

**He stepped into the snow, trudged toward them. **

**The woman, Merryl, was leading Alyssa back toward the cabin. "Roarke, get the girl."**

**Roarke passed her, moved toward Kevin. Yoko had passed out in his arms.**

**Kevin, his mouth barely able to form the words, said, "She's wounded. Shot."**

**Roarke was nodding. "Yes. I can see that. May I take her?"**

**Kevin let Roarke take Yoko from him. **

**"Come. Come in."**

**Kevin thought he sounded something…his accent was…Irish? His mind was tired, he couldn't think.**

**Taylor**** slipped, went to one knee.**

**Leon**** lifted her and she wrapped herself around his front like a monkey.**

**She whispered, "I'm sorry…I'm so tired."**

**"Shh." He carried her. "It's okay. It's over."**

**The inside of the cabin was warm…so warm. **

**There was a blazing fire. **

**It was a surprisingly large on the inside. There was a main room with a sofa, three comfy looking recliners, a large plush red carpet on the floor. Just off to one side was a staircase and a hallway.**

**The kitchen sat just opposite the main room.**

**Merryl had Alyssa sitting at the kitchen table.**

**Roarke was carrying Yoko down the hallway. "Merryl!"**

**She was already setting a pot on the stove, boiling water. **

**She turned to look at each of them. "Take off those clothes and get in front of the fire. I will get some blankets."**

**She hurried down the hallway. **

**David could hear running water from where she'd gone.**

**Roarke was running Yoko a bath.**

**David laid Sherry in a recliner, started to remove her jacket. **

**None of them cared about propriety; they started to remove their wet clothing.**

**Merryl came back down the hallway, carrying an arm full of blankets.**

**Alyssa said, "Let me help you."**

**"Now you just sit there. I'm fine."**

**She laid the blankets in her arms on the couch and hurried back down the hallway.**

**Kevin peeled off his shirt, tried to undo pants but his fingers were too numb, too clumsy.**

**Merryl laid more blankets on the couch, saw him struggling and moved to help him.**

**He swayed a little.**

**"Now don't you be shy. I'm a nurse and the mother of four grown boys. I've seen it all." She undid his pants, helped him step out of them. When he was in his briefs, she wrapped the blanket around him, rubbed up and down his arms. **

**He whispered, "Thank you." His eyes were so heavy. **

**She led him in front of the fire and he let her guide him onto the plush carpet. She said, in her brisk voice, "You sleep now."**

**David was trying to get his boots untied. She knelt to help him.**

**"Well aren't you handsome."**

**He tried to smile. "Thank you."**

**She smiled, untied his boots and stood to help him remove his shirt. **

**He heard her sharp breath as she saw his back. "Lord have mercy. What have you done to yourself?"**

**She guided him into the kitchen, had him sitting. "You just wait here." She hurried down the hall, came back with something clutched in her hands.**

**David whispered, "Yoko?"**

**"Is that that little girl's name?" Merryl started to clean his back. It might have hurt but he couldn't feel anything. "She's just fine. Roarke has her soaking, putting some feeling back into her. He's a fine doctor. She'll be just fine." Her fingers were soothing. David felt his eyes droop.**

**She was taping something over his skin. "There now. It's not as bad as it looks. Shouldn't have too much scarring, if any."**

**David started to list and she was taking his pants off. His eyes struggled open.**

**She clucked her tongue. "The underwear too. You're soaked right to your skin."**

**He complied and she immediately wrapped him in the blanket. It was soft, so soft and warm. **

**She was leading him to the fire. He lay down beside Kevin who was already fast asleep.**

**Alyssa curled up next to him and David rolled, just a little, as she slid into his blanket, into the heat of his body. Naked, uncaring, they cuddled together under their blankets.**

**Taylor**** was making a sound close to a keen. She couldn't get her belt undone.**

**Merryl shushed her with a soft hand in her hair slid the belt loose. Taylor helped the woman undress her. **

**She whispered, "Thank you…oh thank you so much."**

**"Don't worry about anything."**

**Merryl turned to help Leon.**

**Taylor**** was dizzy, too dizzy. She started to fall and Merryl caught her, looked in her eyes.**

**"Well now..." She brushed a hand over Taylor's face. "I'd say you're more then tired."**

**Taylor**** nodded. "Pregnant."**

**"Yes I can see that." She wrapped the blanket around Taylor, put an arm around her shoulders. "You'll have a bed."**

**She led her down the hallway. **

**Taylor**** stopped, looked back. "Leon…"**

**Merryl looked over her shoulder, "The daddy?"**

**Leon**** was moving after them, nodding.**

**"Congratulations."**

**Leon**** smiled, just a little.**

**She led them into a dark room, had Taylor sit in a soft chair while she turned on a small bedside light, began turning the bed down.**

**She helped Taylor into it, tucked the covers around her. "You'll be having something hot to eat before you sleep. Can't let that baby go unfed."**

**Taylor**** nodded.**

**The bed shifted as Leon slid in, opened his arms.**

**She rolled in against him; put her face against his chest. They cuddled under the covers, shivering.**

**Taylor**** was almost asleep when Merryl shook her, gently.**

**"Sweetheart.**** You need to eat something."**

**Her eyelids fluttered, she sat up. Leon rose with her, his face red, chapped from window and snow.**

**He put his arm around her, helped her hold the spoon while she ate.**

**He was starting to get the feeling back in his arms and legs. His mind was starting to surface.**

**Merryl was sitting on the bed, watching them.**

**He said, "Thank you. We would have died out there."**

**She met his eyes. "You're more then welcome. Of course, I'm the curious sort so I'll be asking you how you came to be on doorstep at three in the morning."**

**He nodded. "It's a long story."**

**"I'm a good listener."**

**He smiled at her. "It's a crazy story."**

**She nodded at him. "I figure it must be."**

**Taylor**** finished the soup and handed the bowl back. "Thank you."**

**Merryl nodded. "The rest of you need sleep more then food."**

**Leon**** nodded, slid back under the covers. Taylor curled into him, snuggling.**

**"I'm Merryl Roarke."**

**Leon**** looked at her. "And you're husband is Roarke?"**

**"Yes. Just Roarke." She smiled. **

**"Leon. Leon Kennedy. This is Taylor."**

**"Well, Leon Kennedy. I'm looking forward to that story." She turned off the light. "Don't worry about Yoko. Roarke will take good care of her."**

**Darkness slid over them. **

**Taylor**** moved her lips against his skin. "Love you."**

**Leon cuddled her close, let his eyes drift closed, and slept.**

**…..**

**He was drifting, floating. His body was warm, so warm. He didn't want to wake, didn't want to rise.**

**But his legs were wet…wet?**

**Leon**** let his eyes flutter open. She was moaning.**

**"Taylor?"**

**It was so dark, he couldn't see.**

**She keening**** now, high in her throat.**

**"Taylor!?"******

**He rolled toward her, one hand feeling for her in the dark.**

**"Leon…" He could hear the agony in her voice. "Leon…I'm dying."**

**Panicked, he fumbled for the light. **

**It washed over them, soft, yet almost too bright. Leon's eyes squinted.**

**And then he saw it.**

**The covers were sticky with it, stained with it. **

**He yelled before he thought better about. **

**She was curled on her side, holding herself, crying. **

**Leon**** jerked back the comforter and saw the blood. Too much blood, the bed was covered in it; it was all over him, all over his waist and legs.**

**Taylor**** had a hand pressed between her legs. Her eyes were glassy, filled with screaming pain.**

**"Leon…gotta stop it…the baby…"**

**He leapt out of the bed, ran to the door, already screaming.**

**"Help!**** Oh god! _Someone help_!"**

**Kevin was coming down the hallway, carrying Wesker's gun. But it didn't matter. It wasn't that kind of emergency.**

**"Kennedy what?"******

**Leon**** was still yelling. "Merryl! Roarke!"**

**Someone was pounding down the stairs. **

**Merryl emerged into the dark hallway. "Leon? What is it?"**

**"Taylor…oh god!"**** He turned back into the room with Merryl close behind him.**

**She saw the girl curled on the bed, saw the blood and said, calmly, "Son?"**

**Kevin was in shock.**

**"Son?"******

**He finally looked at her, glassy eyed.**

**"Please go wake Roarke. He's in the upstairs bedroom. Third door on the left."**

**Kevin nodded, and started running.**

**Leon was climbing onto the bed, trying to pull Taylor into his arms. But she was curled too badly, screaming now.**

**Merryl touched Leon's face. "Sweetie, I'm gonna need you to boil some water, get some clean towels. Can you do that for me?"**

**Leon**** nodded, rapidly.**

**She brushed a hand at his hair. "Maybe you should put those on first."**

**There was a pair of pajama pants lying on a chair by the door. She must have put them there after they'd fallen asleep.**

**He jerked them on, over the blood, and hurried out into the darkened hallway.**

**Someone had turned on the kitchen light.**

**Alyssa was sitting at the table, rubbing her eyes.**

**Leon**** flew past her, started banging around in cabinets until he found a pot. The pipes groaned as he turned them on.**

**David was sitting on the couch. "What? What is it?"**

**Leon**** could feel the panic threatening to choke him. "It's Taylor."**

**David sat up straighter. "The baby?"**

**Leon**** nodded, felt the tears that sparked in his eyes, and hated himself for the weakness.**

**David stood, walked around the couch, and took the pot from Leon.**

**"Leon."**

**Leon was gripping the edge of the counter, his knuckles were white.**

**"Leon."**

**He looked at David.**

**"Get it together. Now."**

**Leon****'s face fell into lines of control. Impressed, David watched him pull it all in.**

**"Can you get the water?"**

**Leon****'s voice was calm.**

**"Yes."**

**"Okay." He hurried out of the kitchen.**

**Alyssa yawned. "What's the problem?"**

**David filled the pot, set it to boil. "Taylor's miscarrying."**

**Alyssa's eyebrows went up. "She's pregnant?"**

**He just shook his head at her.**

**Kevin was coming down the stairs with Roarke close behind him. The older man was mumbling to himself.**

**He said to Kevin, "Closest Hospital is hours away. We don't have time to get her there." He looked at David. "How's Yoko?"**

**David glanced at the couch. Yoko was sleeping comfortably.**

**"Fine."******

**"Good." Roarke hurried down the hallway.**

**Leon**** came into the bedroom, his arms loaded with towels.**

**Roarke was leaning over Taylor, Merryl was massaging her stomach.**

**She was sobbing. **

**Roarke looked at Leon. "How pregnant is she?"**

**Leon**** did the math. "Almost two months."**

**He nodded. "She should be able to pass the baby without much trouble."**

**Merryl looked at him. "Why is she bleeding so much?"**

**Roarke was shaking his head. "Internal bleeding maybe. I don't know."**

**Leon**** remembered something George had said. "She's a hemophiliac."**

**Merryl looked at him.**

**Leon**** shook his head. "She's a bleeder."**

**Roarke whistled. "That might be a problem. If she makes it through this, she's gonna need a transfusion."**

**Leon**** moved forward. "She's AB Positive."**

**Merryl looked horrified. **

**Kevin said from the doorway. "I'm AB positive. I'll do it."**

**Roarke looked up, considered. "I don't know if it'll be possible in these kind of conditions but we're going to try." He looked at Merryl. "Get my bag."**

**She nodded, ran from the room.**

**Roarke gestured with his head. "Leon is it?"**

**"Yes."**

**"Get behind her, hold her up, and rub her stomach. We have to make her uterus contract."**

**Leon**** ran around; slid in behind her. He was calm now. **

**She leaned heavily on him. "Leon…I'm so sorry…"**

**He was rubbing her stomach. "Shh…it's okay. It's not your fault."**

**She moaned, her body bowing.**

**Roarke looked at Kevin. "You should know, this kind of transfusion, under these kind of circumstances…it could very well kill you both."**

**Kevin was already shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. Let's do it."**

**David came into the room, carrying a bowl of steaming water.**

**Roarke began cleaning Taylor, smiling at her gently as he moved. "It's alright love. It'll be over soon."**

**Taylor**** whimpered. "My baby…"**

**He smiled at her. "You'll have another." **

**She turned her head against Leon's chest, sobbing brokenly.**

**Merryl came into the room and Roarke said, "Take the boy, get him ready. This will be over in a few minutes."**

**Merryl took Kevin's hand and guided him out of the room.**

**She led him into the kitchen. David and Alyssa were standing, waiting.**

**Merryl had Kevin sit, began searching through the bag she carried. She removed a long needle, a sliver of rubber.**

**David knew the minute he saw it, what was going to happen. "Kevin…"**

**Kevin looked at him. "I have to."**

**David nodded, his face empty.**

**Alyssa was confused again. "What's going on?"**

**David answered her, gruffly, "She needs a transfusion."**

**Alyssa whistled. "Here? Is that safe?"**

**Kevin answered her as Merryl checked his blood pressure, his heart rate. "It's her only chance."**

**Merryl patted Kevin's shoulder. "Well you're just as healthy as a horse, aren't you?"**

**Kevin smiled, gently. "I smoke."**

**Merryl winked. "So do I."**

**Taylor**** was screaming.**

**Alyssa gripped David's hand, the only outward sign that she was afraid.**

**Yoko stirred on the couch.**

**Merryl stood, "Give us five minutes to set up." She hurried back down the hallway.**

**David looked at Kevin. "You could die."**

**"Yeah."******

**Alyssa looked sick. "How do you know something like that Dave?"**

**He met her eyes. "Cause I've done it before."**

**Kevin stood and David laid a hand on his chest. They met each other's eyes.**

**Kevin looked down at the darkness of his fingers splayed there. "I have to."**

**David, a little taller, looked down into his face. "Yeah you do."**

**Kevin gripped David's hand, kissed his fingers, and moved around him, down the hallway.**

**Alyssa slid her arm around David's back, wrapped her blanket around both of them, and felt him lay his head, just a little, atop hers.**

**Kevin didn't look at the blood, didn't look at the bed, he sat in the chair.**

**Taylor**** wasn't screaming anymore. Roarke was bathing her body with a damp towel. **

**She was glassy eyed, still, staring at something only she could see.**

**Leon**** had his face in her hair, he was murmuring, quietly.**

**Kevin tensed his arm, gritted his teeth as the needle slid in, and stared hard at the wall.**

**Merryl touched his face. "It'll be alright."**

**He nodded.**

**Roarke said, "Leon, if you wouldn't mind laying Taylor down. She needs to be prostrate."**

**Leon shifted, slid Taylor onto the bed, touched her face.**

**Kevin didn't think he'd ever seen the rookie so hollow eyed. It was like looking at…nothing.**

**Merryl touched Leon. "Come on sugar. Let's get you cleaned up."**

**He let her lead him. At the door, he paused, looked over his shoulder at Kevin.**

**Kevin nodded.**

**They left the room, the blood, the pain, behind.**

**……**

**He was empty, hollow. There was nothing inside of him.**

**He didn't feel fear, or anger, or pain. He felt vacant. As if, everything he'd ever known, ever been, had been ripped from his body, from his soul.**

**He wanted to scream, to rage, to weep and could do nothing. The emotion wouldn't come.**

**He sat in the kitchen, staring at the window, watching the snow fall.**

**Was he in denial? He didn't know. He couldn't _feel_.**

**The cigarette dangled from his hand, a soft orange glow. Heat. Fire. He lifted his hand, slid it over the tip, heard the sizzle of his flesh and didn't flinch.**

**Yoko was sitting on the couch, watching him. **

**David walked into the kitchen, stood as Leon burned himself. **

**He knew what it was like to be desperate, to want so badly to feel something, anything, to hurt yourself just to prove you were still alive.**

**He said, in his quiet voice, "You can't change it. You just have to move on."**

**Leon lifted his eyes, drew his hand back. The skin was badly burned.**

**Alyssa, unsure how to comfort, added, "They'll be other babies."**

**David knew it was the wrong thing to say, and in some ways, the right thing to say. By accident, she'd found the right button to push.**

**Something, a shadow?, slid through Leon's eyes.**

**He came out of the chair like a hurricane. **

**David took Alyssa, guided her back, just a little.**

**"Fuck that!" His voice was harsh, deep. "FUCK IT!"**

**David knew the rage was good. It was healthy. **

**Leon**** gripped the glass on the table and threw it. It smashed with a tinkle of glass into the fireplace, spilling shards around the floor.**

**Leon**** turned his chest heaving, he pointed at David. "Someone's going to pay for this. Someone's going to pay for all of it."**

**David nodded.**

**"Why? What the fuck did I do wrong!?" Leon was raging at everything, at nothing. He turned his face up. "What do you want from me? WHAT!?"**

**He grabbed his hair, yanked hard. "FUCKKKKKKK!" The sound was animalistic and drawn out, a continuous scream. **

**The rage of it, the hatred, had the hair on the back of David's neck standing up.**

**Leon**** grabbed David's shoulders. "Why?" His voice trailed off, the rage collapsing as the agony rolled in, buried him, left him screaming in the darkness.**

**David took his arms, "No one can answer that."**

**Leon**** gripped hard, hard enough that David's winced, just a little.**

**He shuddered, tried desperately to get it all back. **

**They looked into each other's eyes: smoke against sky.**

**Leon**** nodded, his jaw clenched, and went for the door. It banged shut behind him.**

**They could hear him screaming.**

**Yoko quivered.**

**Leon sunk to his knees, put his face in his hands. **

**He was losing it. Rapidly. He had to pull it all back, had to get a grip.**

**He was balanced over the darkness and he couldn't find a fucking toehold.**

**He made a fist and beat it into the porch, over and over and over again, until his hand screamed with pain, until blood spilled impossibly bright over the snow.**

**Where were the tears? Were they lost under this consuming blanket of wrath?**

**He wanted to fight. He wanted to _kill_.**

**He wanted to feel the warm gush of blood spill over his hands, watch the light die in someone's eyes, and hear them scream…until they felt like he did. Inconsolable, beaten, a great pulsing lesion of anguish.**

**He stood, looked out into the darkness. The snow was nearly as high as the porch.**

**They were stranded.**

**Survivors?**** Fugitives? What was the difference? **

**Something inside of him, something that made him Leon Kennedy, was dead. **

**"What am I now?" His voice echoed back at him. There was no answer.**

**Had he thought there'd be?**

**Snow glittered, crystalline, brilliant. **

**The sun was rising, a suggestion of something wonderful, the beginning of a new day. It peeked over the horizon, coy like a woman, slow like a lover. **

**Leon**** watched it rise and felt nothing. **

**The darkness raced backward, cowering, hiding, set aside by something greater, something more powerful.**

**The darkness didn't eat the light. The light came to slay the darkness.**

**Good over evil.**

**Why didn't he believe in it anymore? When had he stopped believing in anything?**

**The door opened. Yoko was looking at him. "Leon?"**

**He turned faced her. She felt the cold sink into her bones. It had nothing to with the weather and everything to do with the frost in his eyes.**

**"Taylor's awake. The transfusion went well. Kevin's asking for you."**

**Leon**** turned, looked over his shoulder at the rising dawn. It crept slowly, spilling the softness of pinks, yellows, purples over the pearlescent snow.**

**He spit, watched it tumble, turn, land in the snow. A mar on the face of such beauty.**

**He walked through door and left the pretense of rebirth behind.**


	20. Twenty: The Phoenix

**A bit more angst in this chapter.**

**Silvergato****-I'm so glad you enjoyed the last one. It was heart wrenching to write. I'm glad it communicated itself that way. I'm waiting for the next chapter in yours. Don't slack off on me now. Checked out your fic on fictionpress.com. Good stuff there. Tingles from it. Keep it comin. I took my cue from you and put some of my original novel up there. Check me out sometime: Jade-Frost is the name. **

**Jello****-you my bitch.**** AHAHAHHA. David and Kevin forever.**

**Twenty- The Phoenix**

**Taylor**** stared blankly. She hadn't moved, she hadn't spoken. **

**Kevin was deathly afraid that she had slid somewhere deep inside herself, buried in some place where she could never be reached.**

**He was weak, impossibly weak. **

**Merryl had had him take vitamins, some kind of nasty white liquid, a little whiskey, a big bowl of soup.**

**She reminded him of his mother, his real mother.**

**"Taylor?"**

**She didn't respond, didn't move, just stared.**

**The door opened and Leon walked in.**

**Merryl had had him change clothes. He was in a black t-shirt, a pair of checked pajama bottoms.**

**Kevin was still shirtless, his legs in gray sweatpants.**

**Leon**** looked at him.**

**For a moment, they merely looked at each other.**

**Finally, Leon spoke. "Thank you."**

**"No reason for it. I didn't do it for you."**

**Leon**** nodded, came forward. **

**Kevin was almost as concerned by the emptiness in Leon's face as he was by Taylor's catatonic state.**

**Leon**** said, "Could you give us a minute?"**

**Kevin nodded, stood, and swayed a little.**

**Leon**** placed a hand on his arm. "Okay?"**

**"Yeah."**** Kevin caught Leon's hand, squeezed. **

**The rookie squeezed back. "Get some sleep."**

**"Yeah."**** Kevin wandered out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.**

**Leon**** stood for a moment, staring at Taylor.**

**Then he walked toward her, knelt by the bed.**

**Her eyes moved, just a little, until they were on his face. **

**He said, quietly, "I don't know how to help you."**

**He watched her face collapse, the blankness washed away on a tidal wave of misery.**

**She put one helpless hand over her eyes, hiding, as her shoulders shook and the tears squeezed between her fingers.**

**Leon**** thought he'd never heard anything as horrible as those racking sobs. She cried with her whole body, all of her turned in on itself in grief.**

**He didn't touch her, didn't move, just watched and said nothing.**

**"I wanna die!" She screamed it, sobbed it, "I don't want to live anymore!" She grabbed a handful of his hair. "Why didn't you let me die!?"**

**She shoved away from him, rolled to her knees. He took her rage and absorbed it.**

**She pointed at him, tears skimming over cheeks, her chest heaving with sobs. "It's not fair!" She clenched her fist. "I cannot do it anymore! I didn't want a fucking transfusion! I wanted to DIE!"**

**Leon**** stood, came around the bed. "Well that's just too fucking bad. Cause you're not going to let you die."**

**He watched the grief swim over her, battle with the anger. "I hate you! I fucking hate you! **

**He yelled right back. "Good!"**

**"You smug, self-righteous bastard!**** It wasn't your choice!"**

**"I won't let you die!"**

**Kevin heard the rage in Leon's voice. He put his hand on the door knob and then took it off. It wasn't his place.**

**Taylor**** doubled over herself, sobbing. "What does it matter? What does anything matter? I am _empty_!"**

**Leon curled his lip, snarled. "Deal with it! Just like I am. You fucking deal with it."**

**"You asshole!**** You will never know how this feels! You will never know!" She wailed it, screamed it.**

**"Why? Because it wasn't in my body?" He grabbed her arms, shook her, yelled in her face. "It was my baby too! You selfish bitch! It was my baby too…"**

**He trailed off, felt grief close his throat and was amazed. He wasn't so far gone after all.**

**She hit him hard in the chest, pounded her fists against him, until she was weak, until she was spent.**

**"Tell me why!" She screamed, hit him. "You tell me why! You tell me why my baby's dead!"**

**He clenched his jaw, felt the tears fill his eyes, and refused to let them fall.**

**"I wish to god I knew."**

**She shoved on his chest. "Get out! Just get out!"**

**He didn't think she could have hurt him more. Too close him away from her, to lock him out of her grief, away from what they were both feeling.**

**He looked at her, sobbing, stranding him somewhere out in the emptiness, to suffer, to die.**

**And he walked out, slamming the door behind him. **

**She heard it and crumbled, sobbing.**

**He was running by the time he hit the front door. He went outward, into the snow, and kept going until his lungs hurt, until his chest hurt, until the tears came harshly, sending tendrils of grief into his heart.**

**He collapsed to his knees in the snow and sobbed.**

**The door opened. **

**She felt cool hands on her forehead. She lifted her face.**

**David was wiping her face with a damp cloth. So careful, so gentle.**

**She lifted her arms and he scooped her up, sitting on the bed with her curled in his lap.**

**She cried like she'd leave pieces of herself all over him.**

**He was perfectly quiet.**

**"I can't…" She gripped his hair, gripped his side. "I can't…David…I can't…"**

**He stroked her hair. "You can. Believe me, you can."**

**She curled against him, quiet now, breathing harshly.**

**Outside, the snow was beginning to fall harder.**

**……**

**Leon sat in the snow, feeling it blow through his hair, over his face. **

**There was another blizzard coming, he could taste it, feel it in the air.**

**He thought about just sitting there, letting it slide over him and bury him.**

**He thought about getting up, going back to the house, but he couldn't do that either.**

**So he sat, and he stared, and he waited.**

**There was the crunch of foot steps behind him. He looked up to see Kevin standing there, watching him.**

**"You do realize it's snowing right?"**

**Leon**** shrugged, looked back out into the trees. "Thought about lying down, waiting for it to bury me."**

**"Hmm.**** That'd be a waste. You're a pretty big guy, we get snowed in here for too long and we'd need to eat you." He knelt beside Leon. "Can't do that if you're dead. Never was one for frozen flesh pops."**

**They were silent for a long time.**

**Finally Leon spoke. "How is she?"**

**Kevin shrugged. "Dave's with her." He lit a cigarette, shared it with Leon. "She needs you."**

**"Yeah."**** Leon pushed his hands through his hair, wincing as the burned skin was abraded. "She really showed it."**

**Kevin leaned back, sitting in the snow. "Lotta pent up anger, pent up hurt. It's gotta explode somewhere."**

**"Yeah wonder why it's all over me."**

**"Cause you and her…you're the same. She knows she can explode on you and you'll explode right back. She needed that." He drew on the cigarette. "Probably the best thing you could've done for her."**

**Leon**** took the cigarette. "She wants to die."**

**"She probably thinks she does. She's angry, hurting, scared. She'll get over it." Kevin patted Leon on the back. "But you'll have to be there with her. The whole way."**

**Leon**** closed his eyes. "I don't know if I can."**

**"You can." Kevin pushed the butt into the snow. "Because it's who you are."**

**"I don't know who I am anymore."**

**Kevin looked at him. "I do."**

**Their eyes met.**

**"You're the same guy you always were. And that woman in there needs you, the same way you need her."**

**Leon**** sighed. **

**Kevin put his arm around him, touched when Leon leaned in, just a little.**

**Leon**** stared at the glittering snow. **

**For a long moment, they were isolated, as if they were locked inside a snow globe, a bubble.**

**They'd been lovers.**

**Now they were nothing more then friends, kindred souls, bound by the love of one woman, and the loss of something greater then either of them.**

**Leon****'s face was swollen. He turned it up to the falling snow.**

**Was he crying still? He didn't know. He didn't care. **

**He took a deep breath, it shuddered on it's way in.**

**Kevin said, "I fuckin hate Christmas."**

**Leon turned his head, looked at the other man.**

**"When does it end?"**

**Kevin met his eyes. "What?"**

**"All of it." The rage was rising again. "Any of it. Fuck!" He grabbed a handful of snow, hurled it. "Why does it hurt so bad?"**

**It might have been a rhetorical question but Kevin answered him anyway.**

**"That baby…it never got the chance to breathe, or speak, or hear your voice." He watched the grief slide over Leon's face. "And that's gotta hurt like a sonofabitch."**

**"Jesus." Leon put his face in his hands. "How can it possible to love someone so much…" He trailed off. "…when we never even met?"**

**Kevin smiled, softly. "Cause that's who you are."**

**Leon choked on the sob, a hand gripped tightly around his face. "I don't know if I can look at her…and not feel it."**

**Kevin clenched his jaw, struggled to find something strong. He was hurting for both of them. "You can. Each of you…there's gonna be some blame there. It's healthy. You're gonna say a whole lot of stuff you both regret." He stood, took Leon's hands, pulled them from his face. "And that's okay. Leon, it's alright to need her."**

**Leon**** clenched his fists. "I don't wanna blame her."**

**Kevin's voice was soft. "I know." He gripped his hands, held on. "You need to tell her that. Because right now, she's blaming herself, she's hating herself. Don't run from her. For once, don't run."**

**Leon felt the tears slide off his face, closed his eyes. "I've never deserved her. I've hurt her and hurt her." He opened his eyes again. "Am I being punished? Am I?"**

**Kevin's chest was hurting. He took the rookie's face in his hands. "No. Who the hell knows why shit like this happens? It's not your fault…anymore then it's hers."**

**Leon**** nodded, took a shaking breath. "Barry…he kicked her."**

**Kevin's jaw clenched, with anger now. "I know."**

**Leon****'s eyes were clear now and full of wrath. "Wesker didn't pay enough. Not nearly enough."**

**"No he didn't." Kevin looped his arm over Leon's shoulders. "I know who you are…you just need to remember."**

**They walked together through the snow; each of them suffering, each of them wondering if it all would ever end.**

**……**

**The door opened. **

**She was curled under a blanket, staring out into the falling snow.**

**"You may hate me." His voice was soft, full of pain. "But I love you."**

**She put a hand to her mouth to hold in the sob.**

**"And god damn it, you are not the only one dying inside." He came around the side of the chair, knelt.**

**She wouldn't look at him, couldn't bear it. It killed something in him to see it.**

**"I wish it was me."**

**Her face slid into lines of agony.**

**His voice broke, "Oh god…I wish it was me."**

**She turned her eyes, slowly. He had his head pressed against the side of chair, his eyes closed. His shoulders, just barely, as he cried, silently.**

**She lifted a hand, laid it on his face.**

**He lifted his head, met her eyes and said it again, "I wish to god it was me."**

**She was shaking her head, just a little. "I don't."**

**She pressed her forehead against his, sobbing. "How do I go on now?" She took his hand, pressed it against her stomach. "There's nothing…nothing."**

**His eyes closed. "There's me."**

**She gasped for air between sobs. "I want to die."**

**"I know." He moved, gathered her into his arms, "Together. We'll do it together."**

**They held each other, hurting, dying, and somehow, finding the strength to go on.**

**……**

**Kevin tied his boots.**

**"You're out of your fuckin mind."**

**He looked up. Dave looked furious.**

**"I won't leave them behind."**

**David crossed his arms over his chest. "We've got god knows how many people looking for us and you want to go back into the lion's den."**

**Kevin shook his head, slid on his shirt. "Chris and Jill are my friends. I won't leave them there to die."**

**"Kevin, Wesker knew where they were. That hospital is probably already crawling with Umbrella mercs."**

**"Doesn't matter."******

**David felt his jaw clench. "You're just full of heroics lately."**

**Kevin met his eyes, two different shades of gray, both filled with anger, with righteousness.**

**"That's the man you love." Kevin stood. "If you can't deal with that…you don't know me at all."**

**David looked away first. **

**"You don't want to sacrifice yourself, fine. I'm not asking you to. Stay here, stay safe with Alyssa and the rest of them. I'll go alone." Kevin took Wesker's gun, checked the chamber, popped the clip.**

**"Being noble isn't going to make her love you."**

**Kevin jerked like David had hit him. "This isn't about her."**

**David just looked at him.**

**"It's not." Kevin shoved past him, walked out of the room. He stopped by her bedroom door. She was sleeping, finally, peacefully, for the first time in two days.**

**He kept walking.**

**Alyssa was sitting by the fire, reading a book that Merryl had loaned her. Yoko, looking surprisingly better, was lying on the couch with a magazine.**

**He knelt by the couch, waited for Yoko to look at him.**

**He saw the minute she knew. "No."**

**Kevin leaned forward, kiss her forehead. "Be good for me Yoko."**

**"Kevin…don't go."**

**He smiled, gently. "Take care of David."**

**She touched his face, her eyes full of sadness and love. "I want to come with you."**

**Kevin shook his head. "The trip would kill you in your condition. Stay. Be safe. I can move faster knowing you are."**

**He stood, turned to Alyssa. She nodded.**

**Leon**** came out of the bedroom. **

**Kevin stopped, looked at him. **

**Leon**** was fully dressed, he was sliding the Magnum into his shoulder holster.**

**Kevin said, "Stay with her."**

**Leon**** shook his head. "Can't do it. She's safe here and she wouldn't want me to let you go alone."**

**David came out of the bedroom, he was wearing a heavy jacket, slipping on a sock hat.**

**Kevin met his eyes. "You're both idiots."**

**Leon**** shrugged. "Chris and Jill are my friends too. And whatever else I am, I'm a cop. Goes against my grain to leave them in danger."**

**David said nothing, just walked forward to stand by Kevin.**

**Alyssa said, "David! No!"**

**He looked at her. "Take care of Yoko. Take care of Taylor."**

**"What the fuck is this? Medieval Europe? The men ride out to save the day while the women folk sit comfy by the fire?" Alyssa stood. "I'm coming."**

**David looked at her for a long moment. "Don't be stupid."**

**Her eyes flashed. **

**"Something happens here. Yoko and Taylor aren't strong enough to get away. They need you."**

**Alyssa hissed at him. "You don't be stupid! You guys are going out there to _die_! Do you realize that?"**

**David didn't answer.**

**Merryl came out of the kitchen. She tightened the scarf around Kevin's neck, zipped his jacket up. She adjusted the hat on David's head, righted a few of his undone buttons. She made Leon wear a hat like David's, did the same to Kevin. **

**And then she kissed their cheeks in turn.**

**They'd told her the story of how they'd come to be there. She hadn't judged, hadn't laughed. She'd believed as had her husband. **

**She pressed a set of keys into Kevin's hand. "It's to Roarke's snow machine. You won't get anywhere in a car or on foot."**

**Kevin hugged her. "How can we ever repay you?"**

**She scoffed, patted his arm. "Come back alive."**

**He smiled at her. **

**Leon**** kissed her cheek. "Tell Roarke thank you. For everything."**

**Roarke was out chopping firewood. "I will." She tried to keep from getting teary eyed. "You come back to that girl. She needs you."**

**Leon**** nodded. "Take care of her for me."**

**Yoko said, "Did any of you tell her bye?"**

**Slowly, the three men shook their heads.**

**Kevin and Leon said at the same time, "I can't." They looked at each other, eyebrows raised.**

**David shook his head. Would Kevin ever see what he saw? Would he go to his death bed, pining for a woman he couldn't have?**

**David was desperately afraid he'd go to his, pining for a man who would never love him.**

**Yoko came forward; put her arms around David. As if she knew his turmoil, as if she felt it. **

**David stiffened and then hugged her. He didn't respond well to touching and tried desperately to put it away. Because he loved Yoko, because he was still in awe that anyone could love him, or care what happened to him.**

**The bed room door opened. **

**They all went very still.**

**She had a robe clutched around her. She saw them standing there and…she knew.**

**Taylor**** came forward. "No."**

**Merryl walked toward her. "Now sugar you need to be lying down."**

**Taylor shook her head, walked past her. She was small, pale as a ghost, trembling. **

**She got in Leon's face. "No."**

**He looked down at her. "I have to. You know I do."**

**"Killing a thousand of them, won't bring him back."**

**Him.**** She'd gotten it into her head that it was a boy. **

**The pain sprang sharp in his chest, threatened to choke him.**

**Leon**** met her eyes. Taylor was frightened by the rage, the anguish that she saw there. **

**"Leon…you want to die." She sounded horrified. "You're going out there planning to die."**

**He shook his head. "No. I'm going out there planning to kill. I won't let them have anyone else."**

**They stared at each other for a long moment.**

**She looked at Kevin. "And you?"**

**Kevin felt like someone was trying to rip his insides out. "Leon's right. Umbrella won't take Chris and Jill. Not without a fight."**

**She looked between them. They had the same look on their faces, the same righteous determination…and it would get them both killed.**

**She felt like someone was slapping her, over and over. Would she lose them both? Would she lose everything?**

**She looked at David. "What's your story?"**

**But she knew. Looking at his face, she knew. **

**So she turned, walked back down the hallway. **

**Leon said, quietly, "Taylor."**

**Taylor**** paused, said over her shoulder. "If you go…I won't be here when you come back."**

**Leon**** clenched his fist.**

**"You make a choice like that, you're throwing it all away for revenge. I won't wait for you to die. I won't."**

**There was silence. Yoko started crying, softly.**

**Leon****'s nostrils flared. "I have to go. If you loved me, you'd understand that. It's not about you. It's about me." He beat a fist on his chest. "It's about me."**

**Her back tensed, hard. "Go. Die. I don't give a damn if you ever come back."**

**The door slammed. She heard it, stood for a moment, and collapsed, sobbing.**

**Kevin looked at her and for the first time, whispered, "You're a fool."**

**He went out quietly, David close behind him.**

**There was a roar of the snow machine starting. **

**He was going to die and she couldn't lie with that? Didn't he see it? **

**He was so willing to leave her and die….for what? Venegance? It wasn't enough. It wasn't good enough. **

**She wouldn't wait for him. Because he wouldn't come back. **

**She went to the window, watched the snow machine barrel outward in a glitter of white.**

**She was already mourning him.**


	21. TwentyOne: The Death of Leon Kennedy

**Not sure what to say about this chapter. It's…messed up. **

**Gato****- I'm so glad you liked my original work. I hope this one doesn't make you go :O**

**Jello****-Boo.******

**Twenty-One- The Death of Leon Kennedy**

**Chris was bleeding, badly. **

**He slumped against the wall, slid to the floor. Jill crouched next to him.**

**She didn't know how long they could hold out. They'd barricaded themselves in the basement of the hospital. Even if they managed to hold off the mercenaries, they would starve down here. **

**For the first time, she wished they were in Raccoon City. A secret underground passage would come in handy.**

**The hospital staff had been evacuated. The hospital itself put in lockdown. Patients were locked in their rooms. The mercs had come.**

**One look at their stoic faces and she'd known. They'd been betrayed.**

**They'd fled…but they weren't fast enough. **

**Chris had taken three shots in the back before they'd been able to hit the stair way. **

**She was impressed that he'd been able to keep running. He'd even taken out three mercs who'd come out of the elevator on the basement level. A round house kick, an elbow jab…they'd never seen it coming.**

**She'd dealt with the fourth without much trouble. A drop to the ground, an upward kick to the face. He hadn't had a chance.**

**They'd collected their weapons. Jill hadn't said a word when Chris took precious minutes to deliver the coup de grace. They'd piled their bodies in front of the elevator doors, effectively stalling it.**

**A set of stone stairs and they hit the second level, locking themselves in the first open room.**

**It was a storage room, stocked with boxes of medical supplies. **

**She was desperately digging through them, trying to find something to bind Chris's wounds.**

**Chris was breathing heavily, too heavily. **

**She was horribly afraid they'd punctured an artery.**

**"Chris…hang on."**

**"One…" He hissed, "Passed right through. Upper left pectoral. Second still in there, lower lumbar region." He felt down his back. "Third skimmed over my left hip. Not deadly…" He coughed, it was tinged red. "Maybe it is. Could've…pierced the sack surrounding my heart."**

**Jill's hands shook as she knelt, used the scalpel she'd found to cut away his shirt. "Hold on. Just hold on."**

**She stuck the needle in his arms.**

**"What…what is it?"**

**"Hemostatic medicine."******

**"Umbrella?"******

**"Yeah."******

**"Don't want it."**

**"Sorry but that's all there is. So you're getting it." She started wrapping the bonds around his chest. **

**"Jill…" It was hard to talk.**

**"Yeah."******

**"Gonna…die down here."**

**She touched his face, taped the make shift bandage in place. "Probably. But not like this. We're taking more of them with us."**

**There was a rapid pounding on the door.**

**She helped him stand, passed him one of the assault rifles. **

**Chris lifted it.**

**"Bring it."**

**The door crashed in.**

**…..**

**He slid, bullets singing over his head. It was like stealing a base. He'd always been good at baseball.**

**Leon smashed into the man, already rolling. He came up with the merc clasped in front of him, a human shield.**

**The man's body jerked, danced. **

**Umbrella didn't care about killing one of their own.**

**Kevin and David were crouching on either side of the hallway. David with a dead man's gun, hidden by a large potted fern. Kevin with the 9mm, using the edge of the wall as a barrier.**

**They were out gunned, out matched.**

**It was just the way he wanted it.**

**Chris and Jill were in the basement. They could hear men yelling. One was badly wounded. **

**Leon**** knew they didn't have much time.**

**He tapped into all the rage in his chest, lifted the dead man, and threw him.**

**He was already rolling before they could open fire again.**

**There was a crash, a symphony of shouts. **

**Leon**** was running. The men struggled upward, flailing under their fallen comrade.**

**Red had descended over his vision. He couldn't see, couldn't think, could only _scream_.**

**The hair on the back of Kevin's neck stood up.**

**He and David stood, came together in the middle of the hallway, both of them frozen, in shock, in awe.**

**Leon**** had never pulled his gun. **

**He slid his forearm over one man's throat, jerked. Bone crunched, shattered.**

**Another lifted his gun and Leon kicked it aside, twisted his body, caught the man's head with his ankles and flipped him, rolling through the air, coming up faster then was possible.**

**David's mouth was hanging open.**

**It was like watching a machine. **

**The man smashed into the elevator and Leon followed him, still screaming, that horrible howl of a man possessed.**

**He smashed his elbow into the man's face as another rushed him.**

**Leon shifted his body, caught the man in the throat with the edge of his boot, followed it with the other. A twist of his wrist and the man went down from nothing more then a two fingered jab to the throat, vomiting blood, his body jerking like a landed fish.**

**The last man was scrambling away on his hands and knees. **

**He spilled to his back, crab walking as Leon walked toward him.**

**"Oh god…oh god don't…I've got kids….please…"**

**There was no pity on Leon's face, no mercy. He drew the Magnum.**

**"Beg."**

**The man whimpered, "Please…oh god…I'm sorry…I was just doing my job."**

**"Consider this your severance check." He pulled the trigger, watched the man's head explode, saw the brightness of blood, the chunks of brain…and kept firing. **

**The Magnum bucked in his hand. The heavy rounds tore into the man, obliterated his head, splattered his blood like obscene finger paint over Leon's face, his clothes. **

**When it clicked empty, Leon flipped it, took the stock in his hand.**

**One of the men was still alive, holding his shattered face, crawling desperately away.**

**Kevin whispered, "Stop him."**

**But neither he nor David moved.**

**Leon**** dragged the man up by his hair. "Can you see me?"**

**"Y..yeah…" It was a woman. Not a man. It didn't matter. He was no longer Leon Kennedy. He was wrath, he was darkness.**

**"Is Albert Wesker alive?"**

**The merc sobbed, "Yes…yes…he's…not human…can't die…"**

**Leon****'s teeth were white in the bloody mask of his face. "You tell him to come for me. You tell him to come for Leon Kennedy."**

**"Yes…yes…anything you say…oh god…anything you say."**

**He tossed her away, like a gnat, like garbage. **

**She rolled along the floor, crawling, crying.**

**There was the pounding of feet on the staircase.**

**Calmly, Leon bent, picked up a fallen assault rifle. The door burst open.**

**The first man through was caught in the spray. He didn't have time to scream.**

**At a distance of three feet, the pepper of armor piercing rounds bisected him across the chest in a burst of blood.**

**The next man through tried to duck, tried to retreat, and Leon kept firing.**

**His body danced, jerked, in a macabre motion like a puppet on strings.**

**He collapsed backward, down the stairs, on top of his yelling team mates. The sudden end to the booming fire had Kevin's ears ringing.**

**They were struggling, pushing, when Leon started down the steps.**

**One of them yelled, "He's armed!"**

**Leon**** smiled, a flash of teeth. "Duh." He started firing.**

**The assault rifle jumped in his hands. **

**Kevin and David reached the top of the stairs as it clicked empty. **

**The walls were stained crimson. Bodies lay piled on each other, missing heads, missing legs. A jigsaw puzzle of flesh, of blood, of spilled instestines.**

**The smell of meat filled the air, a nauseating stench. It smelled like Raccoon City. Like death.**

**He looked away, terribly afraid he was going to vomit.**

**The assault rifle clanged to the floor. **

**David jumped at the only sound in the numbing silence.**

**Leon was pulling one of the merc's side arms, moving down the steps.**

**David and Kevin looked at each other, their faces a mirror of horror.**

**At the bottom of the stairs, they could hear yelling.**

**"He's disarmed! Subject is in custody."**

**A man had a knee in Chris's back. Another had Jill in an arm lock. She was down on one knee.**

**The man holding Jill saw Leon, saw the blood that covered him, and said, "What the fuck?"**

**It was the last words he ever spoke. **

**The bullet took him straight through the eye, had his body flying backward, slamming into the wall.**

**The one on Chris started to turn. Leon kicked him in the face, put his boot on the man's back, and pressed the muzzle against the back of his skull.**

**He pulled the trigger with a laugh that had Jill shivering.**

**A third man came out of the room. He froze.**

**Leon**** turned the H&K just as the man raised his Beretta. They were a foot apart, both staring into the barrel of a gun.**

**Leon****'s mouth turned up. "Breathe."**

**The man was sweating. "Drop your weapon."**

**"Make me."**

**"I'll shoot you. You crazy bastard."**

**"I dare you to."**

**Kevin raised his gun. "Drop it."**

**The stench of urine.**** The man had wet himself.**

**Leon**** threw his head back and roared with laughter. **

**The man looked into his eyes and saw his death there.**

**He yelled. "I'll drop it! Make him do it first!" His voice broke.**

**Jill was helping Chris sit. His face was ashen, his bandage had bled through.**

**David said, quietly, "We've got to get him out of here."**

**Kevin spoke, carefully, keeping his voice neutral. "Leon we gotta go. They're gonna send reinforcements soon."**

**Leon**** ignored him. "Pull the trigger."**

**The man was shaking. "Oh god man…just go. Okay? Just fucking go."**

**Leon**** snarled. "PULL IT! YOU STUPID BASTARD! PULL THE FUCKING TRIGGER!"**

**The man dropped the gun, backed up. "Okay! I put it down! I put it down!" He turned to look at Kevin. "Jesus! Help me!"**

**David's voice was empty. "Jesus doesn't give a shit about you."**

**Jill spoke, quietly, "You chose the wrong fucking people to work for."**

**"You don't have to tell me." The man sunk to his knees. "Just let me go. Please."**

**Leon**** sneered. "You pathetic worm." He kicked the man, watched him roll. "Go back to your master."**

**The man scurried, stumbled, and ran.**

**They quiet fell, broken only by Leon's heavy breathing. **

**Kevin spoke, softly. "Let's go."**

**David and Kevin carried Chris between them.**

**No one said a word as they passed the mess on the stairs. They moved in silence.**

**They had minutes before one of the surviving mercs called for help.**

**The night air was frigid, it slapped against his face but he didn't feel it. **

**He moved in a circle of hatred. **

**Into the back of a Hummer.******

**Jill looking at him as Kevin drove, silently.**

**David followed them on the snow machine.**

**He didn't see. There was only the darkness.**

**The night stretched out before them, endless.**

**He didn't care. He knew nothing, felt nothing. **

**Leon Kennedy was dead.**


	22. TwentyTwo: Ashes to Ashes

**So this brings the angst to a close…at least temporarily. Thanks to my new reviewer Fat Zombie. Sorry about all the sex, but with hot bodies like these, who could blame them? Wink**

**Without further ado…**

**Twenty-Two-Ashes to ashes….**

**The snow had finished. There was nothing but the quiet, weakened rays of sunlight that made crystals flash and sparkle. **

**Yoko sat on the porch on the cabin, wrapped in a wool blanket, wrapped in agony.**

**Were they dead? Were they dying?**

**How could she live knowing she'd led them to death? **

**Every moment she lost a little more of what she'd been. She couldn't remember, couldn't begin to remember. It was a blank, a chalkboard wiped clean by malicious hands.**

**Wesker.**

**Had she ever really loved him? Or had it been a possession? **

**There was the roar, soft at first, which built.**

**She came to her feet, the blanket sliding to the ground, forgotten.**

**She saw it come over the hill in the distance, a shocking suggestion of blackness against all the white. A Hummer…and close behind it…the snow machine.**

**She was off the porch, running, running.**

**The Hummer slid to a stop, hidden under a crop of gnarled trees.**

**She slid in the snow, went to one knee; pushed herself up. It was to her waist, sinking in her clothes.**

**Kevin's hair shown, dark, kissed with red highlights. **

**She was crying before she reached him.**

**He saw her and his face registered shock and love. Through everything, he loved her. Like a sister, like no one had ever loved her before.**

**He opened his arms to her, swept her up and held her.**

**She put her face in the curve of his neck. **

**Alyssa was racing across the snow. **

**David and Jill were carefully moving Chris from the van. He was unconscious now, from blood loss, from pain.**

**Yoko saw him and pulled herself away. "Oh my god…"**

**She hurried to his side. "We need George." And it hurt her heart to say it.**

**David lifted Chris's shoulders, Jill went for his feet. **

**Leon**** moved silently, scooped Chris into his arms, effortlessly, easily.**

**In awe, Yoko watched him move almost gracefully thorough the deep snow, toward the house.**

**Alyssa grabbed David's arm. "What happened to him?"**

**David was watching Leon move, remembering what it was like to be empty, to be forsaken. "He's dead." **

**There was no horror in his voice only truth.**

**Merryl stepped onto the porch, looked at Leon's face, at the shell of a man. She said, "Bring him in."**

**Roarke was waiting. He said nothing about Leon's blood splattered body, merely took Chris and carried the much heavier man to the couch.**

**Taylor**** came out of the bathroom.**

**She put a hand to her chest as the joy spilled through her. The sorrow tangled, twisted with it. She'd said things…horrible things to him. Would he ever forgive her?**

**He turned and something inside of her screamed in anguish. He was there…but he was gone.**

**She hurried forward anyway and stopped, a foot away from him.**

**They looked at each other. And for the first time, there was nothing in his face, nothing for her in his eyes.**

**She whispered, "Leon…"**

**He moved around her, silently and she hurried after him, followed him into the bedroom.**

**He went into the bathroom, stood in front of the mirror. Was that his face? Was there anything left under the madness? **

**He pushed his hands through his hair, felt the slipperiness of blood, and looked at it on his hands.**

**She touched his arm; saw the slide of his eyes as they moved to her hand.**

**Tears filled her eyes. **

**When his voice came, it was too deep, too blank. "Don't touch me."**

**She trembled and moved into him, sliding her arms over his back, putting her face against the steady beat of his heart, the dampness of blood.**

**He took her arms, pulled her back from him, not gentle, not rough. "Don't touch me."**

**Her mouth trembled, tears spilling onto her cheeks. "You're not this man."**

**His hands tightened against her flesh, almost bruising. "You have no idea who I am."**

**Taylor****'s jaw tightened. "You're not Albert Wesker."**

**His lip turned up, in a snarl. **

**"You're a good man. You can't kill and feel nothing. You're a cop, Leon, serve and protect…"**

**He shoved her back and she stumbled, hit the wall. There was shock on her face.**

**"The cop died with Raccoon City." He turned on the shower, stripped his shirt off, tossing it negligently onto the floor.**

**She started to go to him and he turned, too fast, caught her throat in his hand. **

**She felt the fear slide into her, pierce her heart. She was afraid…desperately of Leon and it killed something in her to feel it.**

**His hand tightened. She could have fought, could have screamed but she stood and faced down that wrath, that fury.**

**And she felt the tremor that went up his arm, the flash of anguish, quickly obliterated.**

**Taylor**** lifted her hands; laid them on his forearm. "Will it make it better Leon? Will killing me make it better?"**

**His teeth bared as the water beat against cold porcelain, as steam wafted upward, fogging the mirror.**

**He looked into her eyes. "I don't love you anymore." He pushed her away; she caught the edge of the sink to keep from falling. "Leave me alone."**

**It arrowed into her chest and she gasped from pain that was more then physical, more then anything she'd ever felt before.**

**Leon started to take off his pants, ignoring her. **

**She hit him in the back, caught him off guard, and he slipped, went down on his ass in the bathtub. Water beat on his half clothed body.**

**There was an echo of fury on her face.**

**He came out of the porcelain like a shot. **

**She had time to form a half scream in her throat and he grasped her upper arms, shoving her, pushing her until she flopped down on the bed.**

**He rose above her, a goliath, a fiend. **

**His hand encircled her throat, raised his fist, and she screamed, "Hit me! Kill me! I want you to!"**

**His hand slid off her throat. **

**She saw the lightening flash in those cornflower orbs.**

**He was gripping her arms again. He threw back his head and roared; the call of a primal beast, a demon.**

**She shuddered under him, torn in half for him, for herself.**

**He lifted her, slammed her into the mattress, lifted her, slammed her back; and endless litany of torture.**

**She took it, absorbed it, willing to take anything from him, _anything_, to see the light back in his eyes.**

**He screamed while he shook her, screamed while his fingers dug into her skin, threatened to burst it, to spill the blood underneath.**

**She was horribly afraid he was too far gone.**

**He beat her into the mattress while she cried, while her vision went splotchy from the force of it.**

**"Ohmigod!"**

**Someone was pulling him back, slamming an arm over his chest. The rage was the beat of his blood, the pounding voice that rode through his head like hounds from hell.**

**They were pulling him down the hallway, someone holding his arms, someone gripping his shoulders.**

**Out into the snow, away from the house.**

**Yoko screaming, "DON'T! KEVIN! DAVID! DOOOOONNNN'T!"**

**Don't want? **

**It didn't matter.**

**They were too far away now. Someone shoving him to his knees.**

**The snow slid over his pants, cold, so cold. **

**He could feel it, a worthless balm on a spreading wound. **

**There was the sound of a hammer cocking. Leon clenched his fists, felt the press of cold steel against the back of his head.**

**Kevin said, "David."**

**"He wants it." David sounded blank. "He's killing himself."**

**Kevin was watching. "He needs to cool off."**

**David laughed, a harsh bark, loud enough and deep enough that it shook snow from the deadened trees.**

**"He's already fucking dead. Can't you see it?"**

**Kevin knew he was on dangerous ground. "Like you were? Like I was? Do you think capping him would be mercy?"**

**David was silent for a long moment. The only movement of life, frozen puffs of air.**

**"It would have been mercy for me."**

**Kevin nodded. "Once…but thank god no one took mercy on either of us."**

**Leon felt the darkness lifting and terrified of feeling, hissed, "Do it!"**

**David's arm thrummed. He didn't want to care, didn't want to feel any pity for the mess kneeling in the snow before him. **

**His eyes turned and met Kevin's. There was no judgment, no condemnation…only a swirling well of love, of empathy. **

**David's finger slid onto the trigger, over it, a caress.**

**She was barreling across the snow, stumbling, crying. "NO! OH GOD! DAVID NO!"**

**She was too far. She wouldn't make it in time. **

**David flipped the gun; put the hilt beside Leon's head. "You want it done. Do it yourself."**

**Leon gripped the weapon, put it to his temple.**

**Kevin's chest hurt. He wanted to turn, wanted to look away, but he didn't. If Leon could feel so much pain, he could see it end.**

**David stepped back, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited. His face was stoic.**

**Taylor**** was too far. They were nothing but dark shapes in the distance. She screamed, screamed, screamed…**

**The boom of the gun shook the fabric of the artificial silence. Snow fell, glittering, cold, absorbed by its brethren.**

**She saw the shape on its knees collapse into the snow.**

**Time stopped. She couldn't breathe, couldn't feel. She was frozen.**

**Kevin knelt, put a hand in Leon's hair.**

**The Magnum lay forgotten in the snow. Blood stained, cherry against vanilla. **

**The body beside it seemed to stare upward, accusing.**

**Kevin whispered, "You'll make it. You'll survive." And knew he was speaking for all of them.**

**Leon stared forward, unblinking. The sacrificed rabbit stared back at him.**

**The silence embraced them.**

**The sun was setting, casting shadows, casting colors in a swirling stream. **

**Soon, the darkness would come again.**


	23. TwentyThree: Dance with the Devil

**So this is the end…finally…they'll be an epilogue I think…**

**I'm not entirely happy with the way the story wanted to end but I'm just the vessel and the hands. =)**

**Thanks to my newest reviewers. If you get this far in the story, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Look for my next story to be up soon. It's my written version of Outbreak. I enjoyed writing the chapters based on it so much in this story, that I couldn't help but wanted to expand on them.**

**Silvergato****, Jello and Caroline-My three most faithful readers, this ones for you guys.**

**Twenty-Three- Dance with the Devil**

**Cigarette smoke curled around his face. **

**He hardly went a day when he didn't remember. Had it been two years now?**

**Glimpses came to him of those days that followed. Of faces filled with fear, of blood…**

**Chris had survived though he'd lost some use of his right arm. **

**They'd fled the country. They'd fled the horror. And it had chased them, across ocean, across land.**

**It haunted their dreams, haunted their waking hours. **

**He woke up, sometimes, screaming. **

**Legal name changes, constant moving, paranoia…they'd lived it for over a year. Two weeks here, three days there, a month, an hour.**

**He was Gregory Lippman now. **

**He was Leon Scott Kennedy.**

**They'd settled in Tuscany, and under the Tuscan sun, had struggled to find some peace.**

**They'd dipped into accounts, taken what they needed, from strangers, from corporations. **

**He looked out over his land, a hundred acres of shining green grass, of rocky shores and endless ocean. The breeze teased his hair, longer now, brushing his shoulders. He'd finally let the natural color come back.**

**It had been black, brown, blonde…He'd shaved his head, grown a beard, a moustache. So many faces, so many personalities.**

**Jill and Chris had married, secretly, only those who knew them in attendance. They were Susan and Richard Shepard. They were Jill and Chris Redfield.**

**Kevin and David, Frank Tucker and Andrew Nixon, shared a villa not far from Leon's. As far as he knew, they were lovers.**

**Alyssa and Yoko had chosen to stay together too, buying up the land opposite Kevin and David, building their own vineyard. They were Alisson Michaels and Kai Nakamura, a blend of Hawaii, a taste of Japan.**

**Taylor****.**

**She was Nivia Sanchez now. It fit her exotic beauty.**

**He hadn't seen her, hadn't spoken to her in almost a year. **

**She didn't live far from him…**

**He drew on the cigarette. **

**Had he ever stopped loving her? In those days filled with darkness, with rage…had he ever really stopped?**

**He'd had women since they'd fled. **

**He'd stuff himself into anything that would take him, wanting to forget, for just a moment, her face, her smile…**

**He'd danced across the sheets with Alyssa, desperately wanting to lose himself again, and unable to.**

**Water pushed and lapped at the craggy rocks of the cliffs below him. Frothy, sea foam waves…**

**It was high tide.**

**Like he did everyday at this time, the man who'd once been Leon Kennedy, sat at the edge of the cliff. **

**When the voice came, he didn't flinch, didn't move. He merely sighed.**

**"Did you think you could run forever?" Foot steps crunching on pebbly ground. "A man throws down a challenge…I'm inclined to take it."**

**The wind pushed caressing fingers through his hair, lifted it back from a face as empty as it was beautiful.**

**He tossed the cigarette into the ocean, watched it flip and fall, a sizzling as it sunk.**

**He came to his feet and turned.**

**He hadn't changed, hadn't aged, not a wrinkle, not a line. **

**Leon**** saw the reflection of himself in those dark sunglasses.**

**They stared at each other.**

**"It ends today, one way or another."**

**Wesker's**** mouth turned up, a taunting smile. "Did you think I left that forest human?"**

**"Do you think I did?"**

**Wesker looked mildly impressed. "So the rookie becomes a man. You've tasted the rage, how does it feel?"**

**"Cleansing."**** Leon and Wesker circled each other. **

**"Did you cry while her blood spilled on your hands? While she writhed and lost the only chance you'll ever have to remain in this world?"**

**A baring of teeth, a primordial grin.**

**"Enough talking."**** Leon opened his hand, "Finish it."**

**Wesker rushed him.**

**…….**

**Jill scratched her belly as she went to the back porch. **

**The sun was almost too hot this morning. **

**She lifted her coffee to her lips, and froze. **

**The hammer cocked. **

**From a foot away, she met the reflective goggles of her death…and smiled.**

**The gun boomed loudly in the morning silence.**

**…..**

**"Kev?"******

**"Hmm?"**** Kevin was fiddling around in the kitchen. Where was the fucking spatula?**

**"You wanna come here for a sec?"**

**Kevin gave up, frowning and walked to where David stood, staring out of the picture window.**

**A swirl of helicopter blades, the pound of feet rushing across their yard.******

**There was a thump of feet on the roof.**

**Kevin sighed. "David?"**

**"Yeah."******

**"I love you."**

**David looked at him, surprised. "Figured you for the type to drop a bomb like that."**

**Men yelling, someone banging on the door.******

**"Don't know why sometimes but I love ya too Kev."**

**The door burst open.**

**…..**

**Yoko hummed as she weeded her garden. **

**She'd let her hair grow again, it skimmed her shoulder blades, settled against her tailbone bone in a snaking ponytail.**

**"Hey Yoko."******

**Alyssa was gesturing from the side of the villa.**

**"Yeah?"******

**"It's over."**

**Yoko said nothing, merely stood as the first stir of helicopter blades whipped the softness of her bangs. **

**…..**

**Taylor**** watched them come.**

**She sat in the soft emerald glass and smiled.**

**It was finally over. No more running, no more tears.**

**She lifted her face as the first drops of rain speckled her skin.**

**A jerk of metal, a pound of feet.**

**She stood and turned.**

**"On your knees!"******

**She knelt, still smiling. **

**"Hands behind your head."******

**She put her hands behind her head.**

**"Where's Wesker?"**

**Another man answered, "He went after Kennedy."**

**Tears filled her eyes. Leon…how had she lost him? How had they lost each other?**

**"No prisoners." The man was wearing black, he stepped close to her, looked down into her face.**

**"What's your name?" Her voice was soft.**

**The man was quiet for a long moment. "Hunk. It's Hunk."**

**"Hunk."**** She smiled again. "Thank you."**

**He put the gun against her forehead.**

**....**

**Leon rolled across the ground, spit blood.**

**Wesker was impossibly strong, impossibly fast.**

**Leon bared his teeth, looked over the edge of the cliff into the shifting, churning ocean below.**

**The rain was cool on his heated skin.**

**Wesker took him by his hair, dragged him to his knees.**

**"Is that all you got? Umbrella wasted their time." Leon laughed loudly. "You're no super machine."**

**Wesker put his mouth to Leon's ear. "They're killing her now. Do you know that? Of course, I told them to go ahead and have some fun with her first. She enjoyed it so much the first time."**

**Leon**** roared.**

**They grappled, hands slippery in the rain. **

**Leon kicked him, in the chest, in the face.**

**Wesker laughed as he fell.**

**But Leon was already running.**

**….**

**Wesker stood, brushing at his pants. **

**Humans were so predictable. All the rage in the world couldn't stand up under the pathetic rendering of love.**

**He frowned at his sunglasses. Snapped. Right down the middle.**

**What a bloody waste.**

**"Wesker!"******

**He turned, smiled. "Redfield."**

**Chris was limping toward him. "You son of a bitch."**

**Wesker grinned, cracked his knuckles. "I've been waiting for this moment."**

**"You and me both."******

**……**

**"Hold your fire!"**

**"Someone's coming!"**

**Six men turned, lifted their guns.**

**He didn't slow, didn't stop…not even when they opened fire. **

**She was lying on the ground. She wasn't moving.**

**The heavy rounds tore into him, into his chest, into his stomach. He went to his knees, started to crawl.**

**One bit into his shoulder, his thigh. **

**Blood…too much blood.**

**"Taylor!" It was a whisper, lost on the wind.**

**The men stopped shooting.**

**He crawled, slipped in his own blood, in hers…and laid his head on her shoulder.**

**No heart beat, no breath.**

**He started to cry.**

**The man above him was silent. He lifted the gun.**

**"Be at peace."**

**Leon looked upward at him, the red of his hair spilling over the blood of her chest. He put his mouth against her stomach.**

**There was no baby. There was no baby.**

**The gun sounded….and he was still.**


	24. Epilogue: Resident Evil

**          EPILOGUE: RESIDENT EVIL**

**The hum of machinery, the casual chatter of conversation.******

**He rose from the darkness.**

**One eye slid open, temporarily blurry from the liquid that encased his body.**

**A smiling face, dark glasses.**

**A jumble of images, confusion.**

**He tried to move his arms and they were trapped, trapped, trapped.**

**It was hard to think…he was so _hungry_.**

**And then that voice, so hard, so cold. "Good morning. Good to see you're lucid this morning."**

**His skin burned. Burned. **

**He tried to speak and his mouth wouldn't form the words. **

**There was a horrible monster in the tube across from him. It was deformed with long clawed arms, legs bulging with naked muscle, a face more scar then skin and one bleary, blood shot eye that watched him even as he stared back.**

**"How are you feeling today? Sore? Stiff?"**

**That voice. That face. Why couldn't he remember?**

**"Well I must say you're looking smashing today." **

**A woman was standing close to the man. She was glassy eyed, her gaze empty. He wanted to say dead but she was standing there so she couldn't be dead.**

**She was familiar…so familiar.**

**"Oh yes I can see the mind returning. Well that's interesting. Shall I tell you a story?" The man sat on the edge of the tube and crossed his ankles. "Taylor, my darling, say hello."**

**"Hello." Empty voice, empty stare. **

**He _knew_ her.**

**"Taylor's quite popular around here. Aren't you darling?" The woman remained still, blank. "Smile pretty now."**

**She did.**

**"She tends to make the nights a little warmer at least." The man skimmed a hand over her hair, as if she were a dog, or a doll. "I thought it was fitting punishment for her." **

**He swiveled his head, looked up. "But for you…well…you put up quite a fight. Took out nearly ten men single handedly. That deserved respect."**

**What? He couldn't remember!**

**"Oh come now. Don't disappoint me. After all, the other cop was pathetically easy to break. A few alterations to his lover and he was agreeing to participate in whatever we needed." He called out. "Say hello Kevin."**

**"Hello Kevin."**

**Another man, as dead eyed as the woman, but he was more decayed, his skin ashen, rotting.**

**"You remember now. Don't you?" The man stood, put an arm around the woman at his side. "Tell him, would you sweetheart."**

**Her voice was monotone. "Leon Scott Kennedy, born in Boston, Massachusetts, September third nineteen-seventy-one. Height six-feet-three inches, weight two-hundred-four pounds. Hair red, eyes blue."**

**"Thank you, darling. Please continue."**

**"Subject submitted for testing fourth July nineteen-ninety-six. Subject responded well the resuscitation treatments and was resurrected on fifth-July-nineteen-ninety-six. Entered into Goliath project at O-eight-hundred. Currently only surviving specimen."**

**The man patted her head. "Good girl. Now, could you run along. I think Kevin is lonely." **

**The woman turned and walked to the decaying man.**

**"Smile darling and give him a kiss."**

**The woman smiled and kissed the rotting man.**

**"Thank you." The man looked up again. "Remembering a little better?"**

**He was blank. Empty.**

**"That's a shame. Taylor?"**

**The woman turned.**

**"Could you please tell him about yourself."**

**"Taylor Ann Bishop born in Raccoon City, Pennsylvania, August twenty-fourth nineteen-seventy-four. Height five-feet-four-inches, weight one-hundred-six pounds. Hair brown, eyes brown."**

**"A little more please."**

**"Subject entered into breeding program on fourth July nineteen-ninety-six. Conception proved impossible regarding subjects previous early termination of previously conceived fetus with specimen Kennedy, Leon S."**

**And he remembered….HE REMEMBERED!**

**Wesker saw the moment he realized it. Saw the moment that he realized his pain wasn't over, that it would never end, that everything had been for nothing. He was a machine now, a weapon. He'd retain his conscious thought and begin, gradually to remember that he'd been a man, but the cerebral markers on his brain would give him no control over his body.**

**He was no longer a man. He was a monster.**

**The thing that had been Leon Kennedy, threw back it's head, and roared.**

**…………**

**So that's it. Quite a tragic ending. **

**Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed. It was a joy to hear from all of you even when it wasn't all good. **

**Will there be a sequel? Maybe. Hard to make a sequel with the entire cast dead. =)**

**A few notes here that I forgot in the beginning.**** I don't own Resident Evil, more's the pity. I don't own any of the characters except for Taylor and Phil (Poor Phil).**

**And, in closing, a few words to live by. **

**"Man who stands on toilet, high on pot."**


End file.
